By Megan Z. Shearin | February 8, 2010
Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Va. – Student members of The Virginia Wesleyan College Singers will perform a varied program from their 2009-2010 repertory at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19, in the Hofheimer Theater on the College campus. The concert is free and open to the public.
Repertory for this program includes arrangements of such familiar hymns as Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, He Hideth My Soul, and Softly and Tenderly. The Singers will also perform Leo Delibes’ Messe Breve for treble voices, and Jonathan Willcocks’ setting of St. Francis’ familiar prayer, Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace, and other sacred settings. Three folk song arrangements by Brahms, Three Cautionary Tales by Arthur Frackenpohl (texts by Hilaire Belloc) and several popular arrangements of spirituals will conclude the program.
Student members of The Virginia Wesleyan College Singers include:
Tenor Jordan Bondurant ’12 from Chester, Va. (Communications/Journalism)
Alto Amy Bradford ’11 from Virginia Beach, Va. (Chemistry)
Soprano JC Caldwell ’11 from Chesapeake, Va. (Music)
Alto Jennifer Cathcart ’12 from Woodbridge, Va. (Criminal Justice)
Soprano Dana Culpepper ’12 from Chesapeake, Va. (Music)
Soprano Stephanie Drinkard ’12 from Chesapeake, Va. (Sociology)
Alto Marlaina Getz ’11 from Norfolk, Va. (Education)
Baritone Mark Petersen ’13 from Chesapeake, Va. (Chemistry)
Tenor Jesse Tomczak ’11 from Williamsburg, Va. (Psychology)
Major(s) are denoted in parenthesis.
“In a typical concert you're as likely to find an excerpt from a Renaissance mass as you are a familiar Gershwin tune,” said Dr. David Clayton, conductor and professor of music. “Such varied programming ensures something familiar for each member of the audience, while often introducing new works that are destined to become choral classics.”
In January 2009, the student singing group conducted their annual tour, performing at high schools and churches throughout Virginia. The group has also performed at the National Cathedral in Washington, D. C., and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, as well as a choreographed show at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Pianist George Stone serves as piano instructor for Virginia Wesleyan and Tidewater Community College. He accompanies the Western Branch High School choral program, and is choir director and pianist for Centenary Methodist Church in Portsmouth, Va.
Dr. David Clayton, who developed the music program at the College, is in his 38th year of teaching at Virginia Wesleyan. Choirs under his direction have performed with the Virginia Symphony and the Virginia Opera, for which he was the first chorus master.
For more information, contact Dr. David Clayton at 757.455.3282 or dclayton@vwu.edu.
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