Spring Concert on April 16 to Preview Selections Choir will Sing at World-Famous Venue
The Blackburn College Choir will present its final performance of the season, a spring choir concert, on Sunday, April 16, at 2:00 pm in Bothwell Auditorium. The April 16 concert is free and open to the public. The concert will serve as a preview before the choir travels to New York City for the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall – a dream for many vocalists. The Spring Concert will feature selections from Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass and several additional songs with a New York theme, which they will perform at the world-famous venue with the New England Symphonic Ensemble under the direction of Maria Ellis at the end of June.
“I’m very excited to go to New York,” said Andy Morris, a senior Music major from West Frankfort, IL. “I’ve grown so much since entering the Blackburn music program and I’m glad I’ve gotten such a wonderful opportunity.”
The unforgettable education and performance experience will feature students that are a part of the College’s re-imagined Music degree. Launching in the Fall of 2021, the Music program combines the mastery of vocal and piano performance skills while building in-depth entrepreneurial knowledge needed to launch professional careers in music. Enhanced by state-of-the-art performance facilities, the current faculty, and the college’s unique student-led work program, it is an individualized educational environment not found in any other school.
Blackburn College’s concert coordinator, Lindsey Reeter, encourages students and the community to attend the performance in order to support the campus choir. While the Spring Concert is free, the choir is currently raising funds to help cover the expenses of getting to New York City. With 14 students and three faculty members, they estimate that the choir will need to raise $60,000 to make the trip possible.
“I’m so glad that my students and I get to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Dr. Joseph Welch, professor of Music and Blackburn College’s Choir director. To donate to the choir’s Carnegie Hall experience, please visit blackburn.edu/carnegie.
For more information about the April 16 concert, please contact music@blackburn.edu or call (217) 854-5704.