The Masterworks Chorale will perform one of the most important musical masterpieces on Saturday, April 26 at 7 p.m.
Erik Jones, the director of choral activities, will act as the artistic director of the Masterworks Chorale and also will be the conductor of the concert.
The Masterworks Chorale will perform a piece called “Mass in B Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach. Jones described the piece as “the greatest work of music ever written in the Western world” and “is a monumental undertaking.”
The chorale is composed of 110 Shepherd students and members of the community and the Chamber Singers, a choir of 24 Shepherd students featuring music majors and non-music majors. To complete the chorale, they will be accompanied by an orchestra made up of Shepherd students and professional players.
The soloists of the concert are all Shepherd faculty members. Rob Tudor, the chair of the department of music, as well as the director of vocal activities, is the baritone soloist. Other soloists are soprano Brooke Evers, mezzo-soprano Melanie Regan, and tenor Joe Regan. All of the soloists are also voice teachers at Shepherd.
Jones mentioned other non-music professors will be singing in the chorale including Sylvia Shurbutt, English and Appalachian heritage professor as well as coordinator of English education, and Keith Alexander, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies and coordinator of the Historic Preservation Program.
Jones was excited for the Masterworks Chorale to perform Bach’s piece which he calls “a work of exquisite craftsmanship.” Despite the fact that it was written almost three centuries ago, the piece has not lost the masterwork of when it was first written.
Describing the piece, Jones stated that “it was written by Bach very intentionally as his legacy, a work that encompassed everything he knew about writing and composing music.”
The preparation for the concert is going very well according to Jones. He admitted that it was a “very challenging work of music.” He also said that this semester was challenging due to time lost from the snow days. Overall, he is “looking forward to the finished product.”
The Masterworks Chorale concert is sponsored by the Friends of Music, a non-profit organization that supports Shepherd music programs.
Tickets for the Masterworks Chorale’s J.S. Bach’s “Mass in B Minor” are $20 for general admission, $18 for Shepherd faculty, staff and senior citizens 65 and over, and $10 for students 18 and under. There is also a free 10-minute rush ticket for all Shepherd students with their Rambler ID.
For more information about tickets or details about the Masterworks Chorale concert, please visit the Friends of Music website at http://www.sufom.org
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