CWU Choirs: Canciones de Latinoamerica

The CWU Choirs invite you indulge in choral music from Latin America, Wednesday, May 29 at 7pm in the Hertz Concert Hall of the McIntyre Music building on the CWU campus. The event is ticketed and features performances by University Chorale, Wildcat Chorus, Vox Divina, and The CWU Chamber Choir. The choirs enjoyed an artist residency with Dr. Cristian Grases, a conductor and composer who hails from Venezuela. Each choir learned how to authenticate Latin American styles of choral singing, and the Chamber Choir enjoyed a recording session for a premiere piece written by Grases, “Haz Bien.” University Chorale, conducted by Prof. Vijay Singh, is the largest mixed choral ensemble at CWU open to all students without audition. The ensemble builds musicianship, vocal technique, a commitment to excellence through varied programming. Singing in Portuguese, the Chorale will present “Muie Rendera.” Vox Divina, the non-auditioned treble choir, creates beauty in community by performing expressive music that inspires with their “intoxicating” sound. Conducted by Dr. Nicole Lamartine, the choir will present two pieces by Grases, along with a Nicaraguan lullaby and a Peruvian panpipe melody. The CWU Wildcat Chorus is an energetic non-auditioned group which fosters a team attitude and support for all tenors and basses in the ensemble. This is Dr. Scott Peterson’s twelfth year conducting the ensemble, and they will present pieces from the low voice choir tradition, including “Three Mexican Folk Songs.” The CWU Chamber Choir, under the leadership of Dr. Nicole Lamartine, will sing the premiere of “Haz Bien,” in collaboration with Kairos and faculty percussionists. Also on the program is a pair of pieces about the Venezuelan plains composed by Grases. The CWU Chamber Choir has been hailed as the “finest collegiate choir in the west” with and “genius programming.”