Indiana State University Newsroom

The Indiana State University School of Music will present a Spring Choral Showcase Concert at 7:30 p.m. March 27 in the University Hall Theater, located in the Bayh College of Education building.

The concert will feature three Indiana State choral ensembles. The Concert Choir, under the direction of Scott Buchanan, will perform a diverse program of exciting repertoire that is both sacred and secular in nature. Composers include J.S. Bach, Dale Grotenhuis, Shawn Kirchner, Sydney Guillaume and Susan Brumfield. Angela Scherer will serve as the accompanist.

"This is going to be an exciting program, from the standpoint of diversity," Buchanan said. "This may be the finest choir I have ever had here at ISU. The group is looking forward to performing 'Tap-Tap,' a complex piece by Sydney Guillaume. Not only is it rhythmically challenging, but also it is sung in a Haitian Creole dialect, which makes it even more difficult. However, the students have truly enjoyed working on it. Combined with the rest of the music in their program, it should make for an exciting program."

The Women's Choir will also offer a diverse program including works by Paul Carey, Joan Szymko, Cynthia Gray and Francesco Tosti. They will also perform a piece that was composed by Nancy Cobb Lippens, the former director of the Indiana State School of Music. Colleen Davis will conduct, and Andrea Marlowe will serve as the accompanist.

The Sycamore Singers will open the concert with vocal jazz arrangements of by some of today's better-known arrangers.

"Vocal jazz is becoming a very popular genre in today's choral world," Buchanan said. "This group is preparing for a 12-day concert tour in China coming up in May, and they are learning a lot of music. So, for this concert, we thought it best to open the program with a few jazz charts that we've done in past. A few up-tempo tunes and a couple of ballads make for a nice set."

Buchanan also conducts the Sycamore Singers, and Angela Scherer is their accompanist.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 812-237-4590.

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Contact: Scott Buchanan, director of choral activities, Indiana State University, 812-237-2763 or sbuchanan2@indstate.edu.