The U’s choirs are singing their way into their first concert of the season Saturday evening in Libby Gardner Hall.
The showcase will feature three choir groups at the U-the University of Utah Singers, the A Cappella Choir and the Women’s Choir.
“There will be a broad range of music, and it’s a good chance to see all three choirs in one event,” said Michele Fullmer, president of the A Cappella Choir and freshman in music education. “(The event) will be fabulous.”
Some of the music to be performed by the 130 students includes Barrie Cabena’s “Prayer of St. Francis,” Andre Thomas’ “I’m Gonna Sing,” Jean Belmont’s “If Music Be the Food of Love” and selections from Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”
“My favorite piece would have to be the selections from ‘Carmina Burana,'” Fullmer said. “Each movement has a different color and feel to it. I like going from one movement to the next.”
Brady Allred, associate professor of music, will be the evening’s conductor for the University of Utah Singers and the A Cappella Choir.
Spencer Slade, a senior nursing major and president of the University of Utah Singers said, “It’s the most incredible choral group?Allred can take different sounds and unify them into one incredible sound,” he said. “He makes everyone sound as one, regardless of everyone’s singing background.”
Slade said the music is definitely the most challenging he has worked with.
The University of Utah Singers are internationally known through international concert tours, national music conventions, international choral festivals and competitions and even CD recordings.
The group also won the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing this past summer in Spain, Allred said.
“We have football, yeah. But many students don’t realize that we also have an internationally acclaimed singing group on campus,” Slade said.
The second performing group of the evening, the A Cappella Choir, was founded in 1962 and frequently performs with the Utah Philharmonia, University Wind Ensemble, the U Singers, Women’s Chorus and the Salt Lake Choral Artists.
“I like that we’re treated as a real group and not just a side group,” Fullmer said. “We are treated in a professional way.”
The last performing group of the showcase, the Women’s Choir, is the most recently organized choir of the three. It performs a variety of challenging choral works written for treble voices.
“This performance will give people a chance to experience something new,” Slade said. “Some people have the idea that choral music is boring, but?Allred has a way of making it exciting?You can tell that we love to do what we do.”