Concert admissions support scholarships for talented music students. General admission is $10, or $5 for students with ID, with tickets available at the box office on a first-come basis starting 45 minutes before each concert.
The Concert Choir program will include material also presented the previous weekend in their performance with the URI Symphony Orchestra: two spirituals, My God is a Rock, arr. Damon Dandridge, and Save Me, Lord! by Robert L. Morris; a Russian piece Blazhen razumevayay na nischcha i uboga (Blessed is he who considers the poor and needy) by Alexandr Arkhangelskii, and a masterwork of the American repertoire: “Behold, I Build an House” by Lukas Foss.
Lively Experiment will perform American songs of youthful love, as well as pieces of vocal jazz, and the 80-voice University Chorus will perform works from their standard repertoire.
Mark Conley is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of Choral Activities at URI. He directs both the Concert Choir, an auditioned ensemble renowned for its innovative programming and advocacy of contemporary music, and Lively Experiment, which is a small choral concert group of selected top talent that explores the gamut of choral and vocal chamber repertoire, embracing many styles.
The University Chorus is the largest vocal ensemble at the university, open to both students and community members. The director, Andrew Howell, was the first graduate of URI’s Master of Music program in Choral Conducting Performance, also specializing in Organ Performance with George Kent. Mr. Howell is presently organist for the Anglican Singers, organist and choir director at St. James Episcopal Church in New London, and also sits on the board of directors of the Chorus of Westerly.
The URI Concert Hall is handicap-accessible, and parking is available in the lot behind the Fine Arts Center, off Bills Road. For more information, please contact the URI Department of Music, 874-2431, or check the website: www.uri.edu/artsci/mus.