Washington College’s diverse musical expertise will be on display in a performance featuring a variety of world music and chamber ensembles and some of the Department of Music’s finest student soloists. Free and open to the public, the Music Department Showcase on April 8 starts at 8 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall, Gibson Center for the Arts.
Among the groups performing are the Afro-Cuban ensemble, directed by Kenneth Schweitzer, associate professor of music and chair of the department; and the Japanese ensemble, directed by Jonathan McCollum, associate professor of music, associate chair of the department, and director of the ethnomusicology minor. The Afro-Cuban ensemble, which features congas, cajones (resonant wooden boxes), and a team of vocalists singing in three- and four-part harmony, will perform traditional Cuban Santería and rumba selections. The Japanese ensemble is comprised of student musicians performing the koto, a 13-string zither with movable bridges.
Classical chamber groups will include the string duo, featuring cello and violin and directed by Kimberly McCollum, lecturer in music; the early music ensemble, performing 15th-century music from the Renaissance and features recorder and harpsichord and directed by Jonathan McCollum; and the guitar quintet—directed by Matt Palmer, lecturer in music—which will perform “Hotel California” by The Eagles.
The showcase will also feature soloists who were nominated by their individual studio instructors: vocals, guitar, alto saxophone, trumpet and piano. For more information, visit https://www.washcoll.edu/departments/music/student-ensembles/
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