The Choral Union and Women’s Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “Celestial Fire” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at First United Methodist Church in Nacogdoches as part of the SFA School of Music’s Concert Series.
“We will sing a program of mostly mid-20th-century sacred music from England that will inspire all those who love traditional sacred music,” said David Howard, associate director of choral activities at SFA and director of the Choral Union and Women’s Choir.
The Women’s Choir will perform a responsory by the Renaissance composer John Taverner, followed by pieces by Michael Head and Edmund Rubbra, while the Choral Union will perform a Tudor anthem by Adrian Batten along with works by Benjamin Britten and Gerald Finzi. The combined choirs will conclude the program with a well-loved anthem by Herbert Howells.
“The centerpiece for the concert will be Britten’s cantata ‘Rejoice in the Lamb,’ which is scored for choir, soloists and organ,” Howard said. “Jeremy Bruns (faculty organist) will accompany the choirs on the Möller Op. 10473 pipe organ at FUMC. Our performance commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Britten.”
The concert is jointly presented by the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Admission is free. For more information, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
