Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” If that’s true (and I believe it is), perhaps two of the 20th century’s most prolific authors were composers Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein.
This month, on the 25th anniversary year of their deaths, we celebrate them and other musicians during Salisbury University’s annual Spring Music Festival, “From Havana to Harlem to Hollywood: A Tribute to Music of the Americas.” Sponsored by the Department of Music, concerts are May 2-9.
The Salisbury Chorale and University Chorale, which I direct, feature the tribute during their annual Spring Concert 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.
The concert includes SU Opera Workshop director John Wesley Wright, musicians from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) and Salisbury Symphony Orchestra at SU (SSO), and SSO director Dr. Jeff Schoyen and concert master Dr. Sachi Murasugi. Music includes selections from Copland’s opera The Tender Land and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
Admission is $10, $8 for seniors and SU faculty and staff, $5 for non-SU students and children 12 and under.
The Salisbury Pops, directed by Lee Knier, continues the festival with the concert “Celebrate Cinco de Mayo: South of the Border to Mexico and Beyond” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.
Guests and soloists include Mid-Atlantic Symphony principal trumpet Stuart Smith, UMES faculty trombonist Dr. Isrea Butler, trumpeters Glenn Luedtke and Matt DeTora, student soloist Ben Wilshusen, SU guitarist Dr. Danielle Cumming and visiting guitarist Vendim Thaqi, SU’s Young Guitarist in Residence.
Selections include two “Fandango”s (both the Joesph Turrin and Frank Perkins compositions), Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concerto de Aranjuez” and a Tijuana Brass medley.
The SU Jazz Ensemble’s annual Spring Concert, directed by Jerry Tabor, is 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.
Selections include Sonny Rollins’ “Pent Up House” and “Oleo,” Bobby Watson’s “Dreams So Real,” Willie Maiden’s “Maiden Voyage,” John Mills’ “Two Finger Punch,” Thelonious Monk’s “Skippy,” and Cid Robin and Charles Shavers’ “Undecided,” arranged by Mike Tomaro.
Admission to the pops and jazz concerts is free.
The festival culminates with the SSO’s annual Spring Concert, “A Broadway Star Comes Home: Music From Stage and Screen,” spotlighting Maryland native and SU alumna Jennifer Hope Wills. The performance is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, in Holloway Hall Auditorium.
Wills’ roles on Broadway have included Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera, Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Eileen in Wonderful Town (co-starring opposite Brooke Shields). She participates in a pre-concert question-and-answer session 1 p.m. Friday, May 8, in the Black Box Theatre of Fulton Hall.
With the SSO she performs Broadway favorites including “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from The Phantom of the Opera, “A Little Bit in Love” from Wonderful Town, “The Hills Are Alive” from The Sound of Music, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Carousel, “My White Knight” from The Music Man and “If I Were a Bell” from Guys and Dolls, among others.
From Broadway, the SSO then takes listeners to Hollywood with the themes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Pink Panther and Schindler’s List, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Allegretto from The King’s Speech.
Admission is $25, $20 for seniors age 60 and older, and $5 for children 18 and under, SU faculty and staff, and non-SU students. Advance tickets are available online at www.SalisburySymphonyOrchestra.org and at the Guerrieri University Center Information Desk.
This year’s spring festival features a lot of fun music, and I can’t wait for you to hear it! For more information call 410-543-6385 or visit the SU website at www.salisbury.edu.
