A 355: All New England Choral Festival at PSU November 1

PLYMOUTH — More than 200 high school students from 50 New England high schools will sing their hearts out November 1 at 7 p.m. at Plymouth State University.

The students will join the University Chorale and the PSU Chamber Singers, participating in the 35th Annual All New England Choral Festival, directed by PSU Professor Dan Perkins, conductor and artistic director of the festival.

The concert in Hanaway Theatre at the Silver Center culminates weeks of advance preparation and a full day of rehearsals for the students and workshops for their teachers.

The Dover High School choir, directed by Robert Finch, will be featured on the program.

This year's theme is "Villages of the Earth," for which the choirs will be singing in Chinese, Latin, Spanish and Hebrew, as well as performing some works in English that focus on the global community. Three University Chorale members from Hong Kong have assisted on the Chinese pieces.

The centerpiece of the concert will be "Villages of the Earth," a three-movement work by American composer Janika Vandervelde. Poetry for this work was composed by peace activist Meridel le Seur and encourages listeners to "...let us seek each other in the villages of the earth." Director Perkins says students have enjoyed discussing the relevance of this poetry while viewing world news and events.

The culminating work on the program will be "Shed a Little Light" by James Taylor.

Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and $11 for youth at the Silver Center Box Office, (603) 535-2787 or (800) 779-3869. Tickets are also available online at silver.plymouth.edu.

The PSUChamber Singers, an ensemble of 16-24 voices open to all PSU students by audition, performs music of all periods and styles in concerts both on and off campus. The ensemble has performed in England, South Africa, Vietnam, Italy, Canada, the American Southwest, and throughout New England and the East Coast.

The University Chorale is a 70-80 voice ensemble open to all PSU students. The ensemble performs works from all periods and styles, often in collaboration with other New Hampshire choirs and orchestras.