Salisbury, University Chorales Open Spring Music Festival May 5

SALISBURY, MD---The Salisbury and University chorales inaugurate Salisbury University’s Spring Music Festival, “American Adventures: Music That Inspired a Nation,” with the concert “An American Landscape” 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.

Directed by Dr. William Folger, co-chair of SU’s Music, Theatre and Dance Department, the concert celebrates the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth with A Choral Quilt, featuring selections from the composer’s Mass and musicals such as West Side Story (“Somewhere”), and Trouble in Tahiti (“There Is a Garden”).

Ola Gjeilo’s “Evening Prayer,” with tenor saxophone and piano, is dedicated to SU President Janet Dudley-Eshbach, who will step down in June after nearly 18 years at the helm of the University. Other featured Gjeilo works include “The Ground,” “Agnus Dei: Phoenix,” “Dark Night of the Soul,” “Luminous Night of the Soul” and “Unicornis Captivature.” Several selections are accompanied by string quartet and piano.

Rounding out the concert is Dan Forrest’s A Bronze Triptych with text by Charles Anthony Silvestri, featuring four-handed piano, hand bells timpani and percussion. Telling the story about the life of a carillon bell, the work recalls SU’s new Brown and Church Carillon.

Sponsored by the Music, Theatre and Dance Department, admission is $12; $9 for seniors 60+ and SU faculty, staff and alumni; $5 for non-SU students; $3 for SU students; free for children under 10. For advance tickets visit www.salisbury.edu/performingarts.

For more information call 410-548-5588 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.