Ithaca College Choir Is Bound for Ireland

The 48-member Ithaca College Choir, conducted by Lawrence Doebler and joined by four faculty guest artists from the School of Music, will spend its spring break on a six-day tour of the Republic of Ireland. In addition to giving concerts in Galway, Limerick, and Cork, choir members will take part in workshops with the University College Cork opera class, attend a reception in their honor in Galway, and participate in various seminars and sightseeing tours.

The four voice faculty members --- Randie Blooding, Carol McAmis, David Parks, and Kelly Samarzea --- will also conduct master classes at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Music Centre, with which the College has an exchange program. Established in 1999 by an anonymous gift, the program enables students from the Irish World Music Centre and the School of Music at Ithaca College to study at the partner institution. The choir’s tour is a part of that exchange.

The concert program, entitled "Cycles," will feature music from a range of composers, including Jakob Handl, Moses Hogan, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Krzysztof Penderecki, Randall Thompson, Chen Yi, Karel Husa, and Dana Wilson.

According to Doebler, the cycles this music evokes --- of life, death, and rebirth; of loss and forgiveness; healing and triumph --- are elemental parts of existence.

"The words and music may trigger a sensation in the listener, different from the sensations of other listeners, different from the many performers’ feelings," he says. "All of these sensations meld into a synergistic whole that is live art’s reason for being."

The choir will be previewing its tour program with a concert on Sunday, March 3, at Rush-Henrietta High School in Rochester. Encore performances will be given on Saturday, March 23, at Corning West High School and on Sunday, March 24, at 3:00 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. The concerts are free and open to the public.