March 1, 2017

March Madness isn't only for basketball fans, as our Performing Arts brings you bracket-busting back-to-back performances this month from our University Orchestra and Choral ensembles.
 
Once a year the University Chorus collaborates with professional orchestral accompaniment. This year Director of Choral Music Ensembles, Dr. Steven Powell, selected two works from the Classical period of music dating back to the late 1700s. Featured soloists include Maja Lisa Fritz Huspen, mezzo-soprano, Brian B. Carter, baritone, Courtney Ames, soprano, and Joshua Glassman, tenor. Lord Nelson Mass, by Joseph Haydn, is the major work in this concert, a symphonic mass of almost forty minutes for large chorus and classical orchestra containing string, woodwinds, brass, timpani and keyboard. Haydn's Mass, written in honor of the British Admiral Lord Nelson who stopped Napoleon's advance in the Mediterranean, is one of the great works of the period. This will be paired with a smaller mass setting by his young friend, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, contrasting with the more dramatic work of Haydn; the Missa Brevis in F major, K. 192, for chorus, strings and keyboard.

This spring the University Orchestra presents The New World, featuring Antonín Dvořák's well known Symphony No. 9. Written while the composer traveled the United States during the late 19th century, it has become a symbol of Old Europe meeting the still-new America. 
 Also featured are two French composers: Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose Suite and Paul Dukas' Fanfare from the ballet La Peri. Student Solo Competition winner Chrstian Oliveros rounds out the concert with a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus' Concerto No. 5 in A, Movement I. "The Drexel University Orchestra is a hidden gem within the offerings of not only Westphal College, but also within the University," stated Director Rosalind Erwin. "Many students had considered careers in professional music, but have chosen to keep music their passion and not their profession."

Drexel has had large choral groups since 1920's, and the University Chorus is among the most diverse organizations at the University, with students represented from every College, varying from freshmen to graduate Students.  Westphal is represented in the Chorus by: (Sopranos) Nicole Crilly, EAM, Olivia Lewis, Music Industry, Susan Reiff, TV Production & Media Management, , Madeline St. John, Music Industry, Ruth Thomas, Graphic Design, Erin Williamson, Music Industry; (Alto) Elizabeth Bauman, D&M, Jaclyn Parry, Graphic Design, Cameryn Richards, Graphic Design; (Tenor) Drew Sipos, Music Industry. To learn about 25 years of the Chorus’ programming, click here.

The Drexel University Orchestra became an official ensemble and class of the University in 2014. The group rehearses once a week and performs once each term, with Master classes with Philadelphia's top professional musicians offered each year. A unique ensemble of 65 student musicians with a shared passion for playing acoustic instruments and for being with like-mined souls in this passion, the Orchestra includes students from such varying majors as Entertainment Arts and Management, Game Art & Production, Fashion Design, Screen Writing & Playwriting, TV Production & Media Management, along with students from multiple Colleges throughout our diverse University.

Orchestra: Fri. March 17 // 7:30PM // Main Auditorium (3141 Chestnut) // Free & open to the public

Chorus: Sun. March 19 // 3PM // Main Auditorium (3141 Chestnut) // Gen Admin $3-8