News release
Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu     www.selu.edu/news


Contact: Christina Chapple
Date: 11/12/02

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SOUTHEASTERN CHORAL SOLOISTS -- Southeastern Louisiana University music professor Alissa Rowe, interim director of choral activities, second from right, will conduct Southeastern’s premier vocal ensemble, the Concert Choir, and the Women’s Chorale in a concert Monday, November 18, at Hammond’s First United Methodist Church. From left, Jacquie Brecheen of Ponchatoula, Amanda Tarver of Prairieville, and Cameron Bishop of Oak Grove are the soloists for the choir’s performance of “Lauda per la nativity” by Ottornino Resphigi. The free concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

CONCERT CHOIR TO PERFORM AT HAMMOND CHURCH
      HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University’s Concert Choir and Women’s Chorale will present a concert including works by Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten and Johannes Brahms Monday, November 18, at Hammond’s First United Methodist Church.
      The free concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the church at 2200 Rue Denise.
      The concert marks the first time the ensembles will be conducted by Alissa Mercurio Rowe, who joined the Southeastern music faculty as interim director of choral activities in August.
      Rowe said the concert will begin with the Women’s Chorale’s performance of Leonard 
Bernstein’s “Gloria Tibi.” The women of the Concert Choir will join the chorale for “Four Peasant Songs” by Igor Stravinsky. The chorale also will present “Songs for Women’s Voices” by Gwyneth Walker.
      In the second half of the concert, the chorale will perform Benjamin Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” with harp. The work will feature as soloists Amanda Tarver of Prairieville in “That yongë child”; Emily Herring of Slidell in “Balulalow”; and Jessica Davis of Hammond and Christina Villalobos.of Chalmette in “As dew in Aprille.” Rachael Dantin of Ponchatoula and Sara Osterberger of Baton Rouge will perform “Spring Carol.”
      The Concert Choir, Southeastern’s premier vocal ensemble, will perform William Byrd’s “Ave Verum Corpus,” “O nata lux” from Morten Laridsen’s “Lux Aeterna,” and Brahm’s “Op. 112.” The choir will close the program with “Lauda per la nativity” by Ottornino Resphigi, performed with the orchestra. Soloists in the work are Tarver, “Maria”; Jacquie Brecheen of Ponchatoula, “Angel”; and Cameron Bishop of Oak Grove, “Shepherd.”
      Rowe has master’s degrees in conducting and music from the University of Michigan, where she served as the music director and conductor of the Arts Chorale and as assistant conductor of the Chamber Choir, University Choir, and Women's Glee Club. In 2001, she was also assistant conductor of the Detroit Oratorio Society and conductor of the Chancel Choir at the First United Methodist Church in Plymouth, Mich.
      As a soprano soloist, Rowe has performed in more than five operas and held supporting roles in “La Cenerentola,” “The Consul,” and “La Perichole.”  In January 2002, she appeared as the premier vocal soloist at the University of Michigan’s Collage Concert where she sang Mozart's "Laudamus te" from the “Mass in C Minor.” She has also performed as a soloist in Pergolesi's “Stabat Mater” and Handel's “Dixit Dominus.”
      For additional information about the concert, contact Rowe at 985-549-2197.   

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