SU Chorale and Chamber Choir Concert Sunday, May 7

SALISBURY, MD---The Salisbury University Chorale and Chamber Choir inaugurate Salisbury University’s “Made in America” spring music festival with the concert “A Celebration of American Music” 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 7, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

Selections span from George and Ira Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” to Aaron Copland’s “The Promise of Living” from The Tender Land to Joseph Flummerfelt’s arrangement of “Danny Boy.” However, the main focus is a tribute to the country’s contributions during World War II and today.

“In these trying times for America, it is important to recall the good this country stands for and also to remember the horrors it helped eliminate in World War II, namely the Holocaust,” said Dr. William M. Folger, director of choral activities at SU and conductor of the chorale and choir.

The concert’s focal piece, Holocaust Cantata by Donald McCullough, recalls the strength of the human spirit during those times, expressing not only sorrow, pain and determination, but small bits of humor that helped keep up the morale of Holocaust prisoners. The cantata is comprised of arrangements of original Polish songs and readings found in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum archives, written by prisoners held in Nazi concentration camps.

Dr. Jeffrey Schoyen, conductor of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, serves as guest cellist for the cantata. Susan Zimmer, chorale and choir pianist, and student pianist Andrew Ackermann also accompany singers on this and other concert pieces.

The chorale also performs Mozart’s Jubilate (O Be Joyful) Psalm 66:1, 2 in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

Sponsored by the Department of Music, the concert is free and the public is invited. This event is dedicated to the enduring legacy of Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton, founders of the Fulton School of Liberal Arts at SU. For more information call 410-543-6385 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu. "