Syracuse University Singers present Spring 2003 Alumni Appreciation concert in Setnor Auditorium

Syracuse University Singers present Spring 2003 Alumni Appreciation concert in Setnor AuditoriumMarch 11, 2003Judy Holmesjlholmes@syr.edu

Editor’s note: A high-resolution digital image of the Syracuse University Singers is available. Please contact SU News Services to obtain a copy.

The Syracuse University Singers will present their Spring 2003 Alumni Appreciation post-tour concert March 18 at 8 p.m. in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium in SU’s Crouse College. The concert, presented by the Setnor Tuesday Concert Series, is free and open to the public.

Directed by G. Burton Harbison, the Singers will spend Spring Break performing concerts in five Florida cities-Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Coral Gables and West Palm Beach. The tour concerts and the March 18 concert in Syracuse will feature the world premiere of a work by nationally renowned composer Liu Zhuang, a faculty member in SU’s Rose, Jules R. and Stanford S. Setnor School of Music.”The tour is designed to bring a little Syracuse ‘orange’ to the many supportive SU alumni who live in Florida and to showcase the talented musicians in the Setnor School of Music,” Harbison says. “It also gives students an opportunity to sample the lifestyle of professional musicians, who perform the same music night after night for different audiences. In the process, students learn how a repertoire matures over a series of performances.” The concerts will feature a mix of traditional sacred music, folk songs and contemporary music. One of the works was written exclusively for the 2003 Alumni Appreciation Tour-Zhuang’s “Kuang Cei Kuang.” Zhuang teaches composition and music theory in the Setnor School of Music and is a former composer-in-residence for the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China. The Singers will also perform the late Earl George’s “A Ballad of Jesse James.” George was an award-winning composer and conductor who taught in the Setnor School of Music for more than 30 years and founded the Syracuse University Singers. Other works to be featured include Johannes Brahms’ “Four Folk Songs;” Claude Debussy’s “Trois Chansons,” which will feature mezzo soprano Jenny Nadig, a senior voice major in the Setnor School of Music; Orlando di Lasso’s “The Echo Song;” and a medley of folk songs, including “Elijah Rock,” “Annie Laurie” and “The Drunken Sailor.” The Syracuse University Singers is one of six choral ensembles sponsored by the Setnor School of Music. The Singers’ 24 members audition each fall for the choral group. While 75 percent of the members are music majors, their ranks include students from across the University.Harbison is the director of choral studies and associate professor of voice in the Setnor School of Music, where he has taught since 1978. He is the music director for the Syracuse University Oratorio Society, which performs regularly with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and director of SU’s Hendricks Chapel Choir.