Faculty to present ‘Son of God Mass’ during recital
On Sunday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m., faculty from the Department of Music at Georgia Southern University will present a program of music for saxophone, organ, and choir at First United Methodist Church. The recital opens with Carolyn Bryan and Pierce Dickens in three works for saxophone and organ: Fantasy on Veni Creator Spiritus, written by Richard Proulx, an American composer of church music and Sonate I, by French Canadian organist Denis Bedard, who composed numerous works for both saxophone and organ, will unite the two instruments in a spirited romp. The first half of the recital closes with the brief Meditation by contemporary American composer Michael Johanson, a faculty member at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore.
The centerpiece of the program is the Son of God Mass, performed by the Southern Chorale, conducted by Shannon Jeffreys. English composer James Whitbourn set the traditional mass in a contemporary style with interludes for soprano saxophone. Whitbourn has written numerous sacred anthems as well as scoring for film and television.
“The meditative, somber nature of the piece is especially appropriate for the Lenten season since the liturgy of the mass focuses on atonement,” Jeffreys says.
Admission is free, and the Southern Chorale is funded by GSU Student Activities. A free-will offering will be taken to support the Chorale’s participation in the 2013 International Bruckner Choir Competition and Festival in Linz, Austria, and a performance at the Vatican.
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