News - Lakeland College, Sheboygan WI

Lakeland choir and band embark on annual spring tour

General - posted on 4/9/2012

The Lakeland College music department will take to the road as the concert choir and concert band participate in their annual spring tour.

The week culminates with a homecoming concert on Sunday, April 15, at 3 p.m. in the Bradley Theatre on Lakeland's main campus. That performance is free and open to the public.

The concert choir will perform sacred and secular music from various musical eras and diverse composers. The first half of their program is sacred and includes a chorus from Mendelssohn's "St. Paul," spirituals, a double choir "Ave Maria" and an anthem written by the director of choral activities at Concordia College in Minnesota.

The secular portion begins with Brahms' exquisite "O schone Nacht" and travels through time with music by Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern and Lennon and McCartney. The concert will close with the powerful "One Day More" from "Les Miserables."

This year's concert choir is the largest in decades with 48 students representing every academic division at the college. A total of 12 students will be featured soloists throughout the concert.

"I am thoroughly impressed by the talent and work ethic of these students," said Janet L. Herrick, director of Lakeland's vocal music program. "It has been a joy to guide them toward the discovery of excellence that only comes after countless hours of practice and preparation."

The concert band will feature senior percussion student Megumi Shindo performing George Hamilton Green's "Log Cabin Blues" on xylophone, and senior music education student Jenna Krueger conducting Frank Erickson's "Air for Band."

Other repertoire for this concert series includes: Second Suite in F by Gustav Holst, "Variations on America" by Charles Ives, "Four Dances" from "West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein and "The Big Cage" by Karl L. King.

Now at 51 students, the concert band has experienced significant growth during the past three years and is comprised of 16 music majors and 35 non-music majors from across the college. Many of these students also take applied music lessons, counting these courses towards the artistic experience requirement found in all Lakeland degrees.

"One of the enjoyable aspects of working at Lakeland is teaching students from all degree programs on campus," said Russell Pettitt, director of bands, "It is highly rewarding to see musical study enhance critical thinking skills, build confidence and promote artistic expression in a cross-section of the student body."

The annual tour takes Lakeland students to various churches around the Midwest. This year's tour includes the following performances:

April 11 - Kewaskum High School (sponsored by Kewaskum Peace Church), 7:30 p.m.
April 12 - Brookfield Congregational United Church of Christ, 16350 Gebhardt Rd., Brookfield, 7 p.m.
April 13 - First Congregational United Church of Christ, 724 E. South River St., Appleton, 7 p.m.
April 14 - Union Congregational UCC, 716 S. Madison St., Green Bay, 3 p.m.

Share This Story