On Sunday, April 15, at 3:00 p.m., the Keene State College Department of Music will present a choral concert entitled “The Cultivation of Sound” in the Redfern Art Center’s Alumni Recital Hall. The concert will feature selections based on cultivation and agriculture to commemorate the semester partnership with local nonprofit educational farm, Stonewall Farm. The performance will also include a newly commissioned choral work entitled “The Farmer” by KSC faculty composer Dr. Heather Gilligan and representative choral selections spanning 500 years. Stonewall Farm will offer cheese and yogurt sampling in the lobby, after the concert. The Department of Music will donate 20% of the concert proceeds to Stonewall Farm.

“In our local communities, music educators need to create social and cultural collaborations between their music programs and surrounding businesses, non-profit organizations, and community members to create experiences that help students connect to their communities on a personal level,” explained Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Sandra Howard.

The performance will feature KSC’s three collegiate choirs: the Concert Choir conducted by Prof. Diane Cushing, Canticum Novum conducted by Dr. Elaine Ginsberg, and Chamber Singers conducted by Dr. Sandra Howard. Tickets for this event are $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens and may be purchased at the Redfern Ticket Office or online.

The KSC Music Department has issued its 2012 Call for Scores! And they’re offering a $500 cash prize to the winner.  Composers of any age, residence, or citizenship are invited to submit works for SATB chorus. Hurry! Submissions must be postmarked by April 15, 2012. For more information, check out the Call for Scores page.

Did you know that Keene State College has at least a dozen student composers and another half dozen faculty members who compose? They’re ready and willing to write music for anyone who needs it, and Stonewall Farm, a non-profit educational farm located in Keene, NH, has enlisted their expertise in an unusual way. Stonewall Farm has embarked on a project to teach the public about native birds, their habits, habitats, and songs, and they’ve asked KSC students and faculty to create original compositions which will help listeners to recognize and identify our native birds’ songs. The compositions will be housed in Stonewall Farm’s new Bird Center, where visitors will be able to watch, listen, and learn about birds. Each composition will help trigger an association with a bird song to help learners remember that song.

If you’d like more info on composers at KSC, contact Heather Gilligan, assistant professor of music (603-358-2327).

The Chamber Singers of Keene comprises great voices and support from the local community, and KSC is an important part of that mix. Assistant Professor of Music Sandra Howard is the director, and Assistant Professor of Music Heather Gilligan composed one of the pieces they will perform next month. Holocaust and Genocide Studies Professor Paul Vincent is a featured bass soloist, and staff member Owen Davis is a featured tenor soloist.

The Chamber Singers will present “Rising Spring,” their last performance for the 2011–2012 concert season on Saturday, April 14, 2012, at 4 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church (44 West Street, Keene). The concert will feature Bach cantata BWV 67 ”Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ,” and will include a world premiere of Dr. Gilligan’s “A Prayer in Spring.” Tickets for this event are $12 and can be purchased from CSK members or at the door. For more information, visit the Chamber Singers of Keene web page, or send them an email.

The Chamber Singers of Keene will be traveling to Einbeck, Germany this summer as part of the Keene Partner City project—now, there’s a real community outreach!

Dr. Carroll Lehman

Good singers take note: You’re invited to join in a special performance on April 28, 2012, as Dr. Carroll J. Lehman, professor of music, conducts his last concert with the KSC Oratorio Society, which he formed in 1985. The Oratorio Society will perform Dvorak’s very beautiful Stabat Mater, and KSC faculty, staff, and Keene community members are invited to participate. Rehearsals will take place on Monday evenings from 7:30–9:30, beginning on January 23, 2012. The orchestra will consist of faculty, students, and professional musicians. KSC alumni who have gone on to distinguish themselves in academe and on the stage will sing the solos. Interested singers who have sung this work with Dr. Lehman should contact him (via email or phone: 603-358-2179) about the number of rehearsals you need to attend. Let him know of your interest and if you have a score.