Indiana State University Newsroom

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Indiana State University Concert Band and Symphonic Band will present a concert honoring the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth at 7:30 p.m. April 21 in Tilson Auditorium.

The highlight of the concert will be a performance of Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," narrated by Indiana State First Lady Cheri Bradley.

The narration utilizes excerpts from many of Abraham Lincoln's great documents, including the Gettysburg Address. Famous narrators for the Lincoln Portrait have included Walter Cronkite, James Earl Jones, Gregory Peck, William Warfield, and more recently, Barack Obama.

"Lincoln Portrait" was written by Copland as part of the World War II patriotic war effort in 1942. Copland used material from speeches and letters of Lincoln and quoted original folk songs of the period, including "Camptown Races" and "Springfield Mountain". He finished the piece in April 1942, during a particularly dark and perilous time in World War II.

John Mackey's "Undertow," Clare Grundman's "The Blue and the Gray" and "Twilight in the Wilderness" by Christopher Tucker are among works to be performed by the Symphonic Band, conducted by Doug Keiser and graduate student conductor Eric Drew.

On the first half of the program, the Concert Band will perform under the direction of Dennis Ballard and several student conductors. Among the works to be performed by the Concert Band include Michael Sweeney's "Lincoln Legacy," "Air for Winds," by Melvin Shelton, Robert Smith's "Great Locomotive Chase and Michael Sweeney's "HighWater Mark: The Third Day," which depicts the momentous events of the final day of battle at Gettysburg.

Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the music department at 812-237-2772.

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Contact: Doug Keiser, associate professor of music, (812) 237-2749

Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, (812) 237-3783, or paula.meyer@indstate.edu