January 19, 2014

Get out of the cold weather and into the warm and welcoming Mandell Theatre for more than a month’s worth of fantastic concerts performed by our Music program students. Drexel’s winter music concert series, running from Feb. 9 through March 16, includes African American gospel to celebrate Black History Month, music from Disney’s classic symphonic film “Fantasia,” Mediterranean-inspired mambo, a performance of the Drexel Jazz Orchestra with the Spelman College Jazz Ensemble, the always popular Madrigal Dinner and so much more!

Come see how the nobles spent their evenings in their royal courts at Drexel’s 24th Annual Madrigal Dinner, 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 and 22 at the Main Building’s Great Court (3141 Chestnut St.). The Drexel Chamber Singers will take guests back in time to 1584 with performances of traditional madrigals, chansons, lute songs and lieds. Admission to the event, which includes dinner, is $21.95. Click here to purchase tickets online. Continuing the theme of Late Medieval and Early Renaissance culture, Drexel’s Concert Band will perform its concert, “Courtly Airs & Dances” on March 2 at 7 p.m. in the Main Auditorium (3141 Chestnut St.). The concert bill includes pieces that hold an important place in musical history. The University Orchestra, a full symphony orchestra featuring 70 players drawn from all Drexel Schools and Colleges performs on March 14, 7:30 p.m. in the Main Auditorium, with a repertoire composed by masters of the 18th through 20th centuries. The bill also includes Drexel’s All-College Choir performing a variety of musical styles. 

The Percussion Ensemble will perform a concert of excerpts from the soundtrack of Disney’s “Fantasia,” on Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mandell Theater. This concert is a tribute to the work of the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, and its groundbreaking “Fantasound” recording at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music from 1939 and 1940. The Guitar Ensemble will also perform that evening, presenting rock, jazz, classical, folk, and world music pieces arranged for 8 to 12 guitars.

The Drexel Mediterranean Ensemble will take the Mandell Theater stage Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. for its performance of “Mambo Arabesque.” Connecting Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Latin music and dance, this concert will feature special guests Lebanese singer/dancer Mesha, Flamenco dancer Carol Basilio, and guitarist Michael Simmons.

The Gospel Choir’s winter music concert celebrates the ensemble’s long history at Drexel. “36 Years And Counting,” will take place March 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mandell Theater. The Choir will perform a variety of gospel classics, inviting guests to join in song. The Rock Ensemble will illustrate the evolution of rock by featuring a selection from each decade from the 1950’s through the 2000’s, performing March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mandell Theater. The Fusion Band also will perform that evening, continuing their fall program with “Classics in the New Millennium Part 2.”

On March 13, the Drexel Jazz Orchestra will host the nationally renowned Spelman College Jazz Ensemble for a dual performance at 7:00 p.m. in Bossone Center’s Mitchell Auditorium (32nd and Chestnut Streets). Both groups will form a massive ensemble, performing hits by jazz legends of the 20th century.

The Drexel University Chorus wraps up our winter concert series with a performance of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s masterpiece “Stabat Mater” accompanied by a full professional symphony orchestra on March 16, 3:00 p.m. at the Main Auditorium. “Stabat Mater,” or “Sorrowful Mother,” was written in 1870 as Dvořák’s response to the death of his daughter, Josefa. Tickets are $8 general admission and $3 for students and senior citizens. All other performances (excluding the Madrigal Dinner) are free and all are open-to-the-public.

UPDATE 02/06 – The winter concert series Gospel Choir and Jazztet performance, “An Evening Of African American Music,” originally scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. in the Mandell Theater has been cancelled. Click here for more information.