Internationally known French organist, Paschal music from Eastern rites, and 'Sing for Sudan' benefit headline April concerts and recitals at St. Thomas
The University of St. Thomas Music Department welcomes the public to the music performances listed below. All will be held on the university's St. Paul campus. Admission is free.
- 8 p.m. Monday, April 2, in Brady Educational Center auditorium: The UST Chamber Winds, conducted by Dr. Matthew George, will give a free concert featuring Beethoven’s “Werke für Harmoniemusik,” Kurt Weill’s “Little Threepenny Music,” and “Dance Mix” by Rob Smith.
- 4 p.m. Sunday, April 15, in Brady Educational Center auditorium: Tamas Strasser conducts the university’s String Orchestra in concert.
- 8 p.m. Monday, April 16, in Brady Educational Center auditorium: The annual Festival Orchestra concert features St. Thomas music students performing with members of area professional orchestras. Dr. Matthew George conducts. UST student performers include Joshua Schwalbach, Mary Larson, Wesley Szempruch, Samuel F. Johnson, Christine Prokop and Dejen Tesfagiorgis. On the program are works by Koussevitsky, Gluck, Mahler, Weber, Handel, Puccini and Ibert.
- 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas: Internationally renowned French organist Thierry Escaich, who succeeded Maurice Duruflé in 1997 as titular organist of the Church of St. Étienne du Mont in Paris, will give a recital. Called “an ambassador of the great French organ school of improvisation,” the award-winning Escaich is professor of composition and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire, where he ended his own studies in 1990.
Escaich's St. Thomas program will include Tournemire’s “Te Deum,” works by Brahms, Dupré and Mendelssohn, Messiaen’s “Joie et Clarté des Corps Glorieux,” and his own improvisation and “III Poèms for Orgue.”
- 4 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in St. Mary’s Chapel at the St. Paul Seminary, 2260 Summit Ave.: The St. Paul Seminary presents “Easter Procession: Encounters With the Risen Christ: A Devotion in Paschaltide From Byzantine Sources.” The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity Chorale, directed by David Jenkins, will sing. Michelle Plombon is organist. Featured are traditional Carpatho-Rusyn chant and music by J. Michael Thompson and James Clemens. Carpatho-Rusyn chant is indigenous to the Catpathian Mountains regions that now are parts of Ukraine, Slovakia and other Balkan countries. The chant is used by both Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics of that region. For information on this event, call (651) 962-5050.
- 3 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in Brady Educational Center auditorium: UST students Josh King, string bass, and Maggie Cotton, oboe, gives a recital. Everyone's welcome!
- 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, in Brady Educational Center auditorium: UST’s African Music Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Sowah Mensah, gives a concert.
- 3 p.m. Sunday, April 29, in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas: The 60-member St. Thomas Liturgical Choir will give a spring benefit concert, "Sing for Sudan," with proceeds going to Catholic relief efforts in Darfur.
Admission to the concert is free and the audience will be invited to contribute to a collection for the relief efforts. Contributions, made payable to "University of St. Thomas Liturgical Choir," also may be sent to the University of St. Thomas, Mail #4039, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105.
The performance will include works by Mozart, Moses Haugen, James Callahan and David Haas, and works composed for the choir throughout its 30 years of service to worship and the arts. The choir was founded in 1977 and has earned acclaim for its work locally, nationally and internationally. Conducted by founder Robert Strusinski, the choir again has been invited to sing at the Vatican's Christmas liturgies next December in St. Peter's Basilica. Learn more about the choir by visiting www.stthomas.edu/liturgicalchoir or call (651) 962-6572.
For more information, call the St. Thomas Music Department, (651) 962-5850.
