The Catawba Singers, Catawba College's highly regarded and auditioned concert choir, are set to depart on their Spring 2011 Tour on Thursday, March 3. The 2011 Tour coincides in part with Catawba's spring break and includes performance stops in Huntington, W. Va.; Evansville, Ind.; Springfield, Ill.; Chicago, Ill.; Louisville, Ky.; Bristol, Tenn.; and Hickory, N.C.
The highlight of the choir's trip will be a premiere performance of Eric Whitacre's new work Paradise Lost: Shadows & Wings to be sung in the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago. This concert, conducted by Whitacre, is a prelude concert for the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. The Catawba Singers were personally invited by Eric Whitacre to sing in this premiere performance.
The annual tour provides an opportunity for the college to have "face to face" conversations with alumni and prospective students in various regions of the country. In each of the concert cities, churches will host the students in members' homes and will provide performance venues. Additionally, the tour allows the institution to widen and deepen historic ties to the United Church of Christ denomination, with which Catawba is affiliated.
The Catawba Singers are under the direction of Paul E. Oakley, Catawba's Artist-in-Residence in Choral Music, Associate Professor of Music, and also the College Organist. Oakley has an active international career as both conductor and organist. This is his fourth year on the faculty of Catawba College and his fourth tour with the Catawba Singers. Under his direction, the Catawba Singers have performed a solo concert in New York's Carnegie Hall and the Washington National Cathedral. The choir has also performed for both the North Carolina American Choral Directors Convention and the North Carolina Music Educators Convocation.
Following is a list of performance venues, dates and times for this year's tour:
- Thursday, March 3 – 7:00pm
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church
1135 5th Avenue
Huntington, West Virginia 25701
www.fifthavenuebaptist.org - Friday, March 4 – 7:00pm
Cathedral Church of Saint Benedict
1328 Lincoln Avenue
Evansville, Indiana 47714
www.saintbenedictcathedral.org - Saturday, March 5 – 7:00pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church
533 South Walnut Street
Springfield, Illinois 62704
www.wpcspi.org - Tuesday, March 8 – 2:00pm
Performance
Eric Whitacre – Conductor and composer
"PARADISE LOST: SHADOWS & WINGS"
Auditorium Theatre
Roosevelt University
430 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60605 - Wednesday, March 9 (Ash Wednesday) – 7:00pm
Saint Andrew United Church of Christ
2608 Browns Lane
Louisville, Kentucky 40220
www.saintandrewucc.org - Thursday, March 10 – 7:00pm
First Presbyterian Church
701 Florida Avenue
Bristol, Tennessee 37620-4009
www.fpcbristol.org
- Friday, March 11 – 7:00pm
Corinth Reformed Church
150 16th Avenue Northwest
Hickory, North Carolina 28601
www.corinthtoday.org
