Fall Choir Concert Slated for Sept. 29

The first choir concert under the direction of Professor Thomas Clark, new director of choral activities at Central Methodist University, is scheduled for Sunday, September 29. The concert, beginning at 3 p.m. in Linn Memorial United Methodist Church, will feature the voices of the CMU Chorale and Conservatory Singers.

The Chorale will perform South Dakota Shadows Suite by composer Jackson Berkey, directed by Clark. A string ensemble will accompany the piece, along with collaborative artists Janet O'Neill on piano and Zachary C. Kierstead on synthesizer.

South Dakota Shadows opens with a beautiful love song, setting the scene for this extended choral tone poem. Berkey weaves the words with the music, moving from the Scandinavian choral tradition in Indian Summer and Evening Shadows, to jazz with Mercy Song, country in Turkeys and Badgers, and a powerful choral and piano quintet piece, Requiem for a Pioneer Mother. Also included is a reflective, emotional instrumental highlight, Boxing with Snowflakes.

The Conservatory Singers will complete the program with a newly released rendition of Shenandoah. Also featured on the program is Rivers of the Living Water, set to the hymn tune LAQWUIPARLE. This song, known as the "Dakota Hymn," was sung by thirty-eight Dakota prisoners of war as they were led to execution at Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862. First published in the Dakota Indian Hymnal (1916), the ensemble will be accompanied with instrumentation, including flutes, piccolo, drums, and fiddle.

The concert is free and open to the public.