The Wisconsin Lutheran Choir and Chamber Choir, from Wisconsin Lutheran College and under the direction of Dr. James Nowack, will perform a concert on Sunday, March 7 at 7 p.m. at Faith Lutheran Church in Sharpsburg. The concert is part of the choirs’ 2010 Spring Concert Tour.
The choir will present a diverse, mostly a capella program of sacred and secular choral works in original languages.
Works include Knut Nystedt’s “I Will Greatly Rejoice!,” William Byrd’s “Agnus Dei” (from Mass for Four Voices), and Edvard Grieg’s “Our Father.” Latin settings by American composers include Z. Randall Stroope’s emotional “Lamentations of Jeremiah,” J. Aaron McDermid’s “Te Lucis Ante Terminum,” and Greg Knauf’s rhythmically complex “Gloria.”
The Chamber Choir will perform Eric Whitacre’s exquisite “Five Hebrew Love Songs” with string quintet and “Animal Crackers,” choral settings of Ogden Nash’s playful verses.
The program in four parts concludes with favorite hymns and spirituals, including arrangements by Harry T. Burleigh, F. Melius Christiansen, and Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory, and the Wisconsin Lutheran Choir’s signature “Abide With Me,” arranged by Lucy Hirt.
Nowack has been director of choral activities at Wisconsin Lutheran College since 1994. A disciplined ensemble of dedicated young adults from across the nation, the choir is comprised of 67 full-time undergraduate students who represent a wide variety of academic majors and minors.
The concert at 575 Fischer Road, Sharpsburg (between Ga. Highway 34 and Minix Road), is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the church, 770-253-4007.
