Enjoy Beautiful Music This Weekend

Under the direction of Gary Sturgis, the Sewanee Chorale will perform its annual Christmas concert at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13, in All Saints’ Chapel. Ruth Cobb will accompany the chorale.

Students from voice teacher  Susan Rupert’s studio will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 12, in St. Luke’s Chapel for the traditional end-of-semester Big Band/Broadway-fest. Joining them will be the Jazz Trio, which features Noel Workman, Bob Burns and Garry Collins.  

A program of  favorites such as “Steppin’ Out With My Baby,” “Fever,” “Lullaby of Broadway” and “The Lamp is Low” will lift your spirits and provide a much-needed break to relax and enjoy some of music’s most popular and enduring “oldies.”  

Morton Memorial United Methodist Church is hosting its fourth annual “Mountain Music Christmas” program at 5:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13. The choir will sing beautiful Southern spirituals and Appalachian carols to celebrate the music of our mountain, including music of John Jacob Niles, Southern Harmony and Scottish carols. 

Special guests Amanda Combs and Ryan Combs are siblings from Hazard, Ky., who blend family musical tradition with their bluegrass and gospel roots to create heartfelt, down-to-earth music. 

Storyteller Susan Ramsay and Cricket and Snail will be back by popular demand, and will be joined by local traditional musicians. All are welcome to join in this celebration.

Festive Music on the Mountain

The Sewanee Symphony Orchestra  (SSO) will present its annual holiday concert at 7:30 p.m., today (Friday), Dec. 4, in Guerry Auditorium. Under the leadership of César Leal, SSO will perform audience favorites including Rebecca Van de Ven performing Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, as well as the world premiere of “The Forest Through the Trees” by Jeremy Crosmer. Commissioned by SSO, this work was inspired by David Haskell’s book,“The Forest Unseen.”

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will host the MTSU Guitar Quartet at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts on the SAS campus. The MTSU Guitar Quartet will perform music from Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary American and Latin Music, including the music of Praetorius, Telemann, and more. The quartet members—Brad Poe, Ryan Jerzak, Alex Saber and Jacob Miears—are four of the finest classical guitarists in the state. 

The Sewanee Praise Gospel Choir will have a Christmas concert at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 6, in St. Luke’s Chapel on campus. Come hear this amazing group of talented college students and community members sing praise and gospel music. A reception will follow in the Bishop’s Common.

At 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8, John Bordley will perform a carillon concert in Shapard Tower.

The Sewanee Folk Music Collective will have its winter concert at 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8, in St. Luke’s Chapel.

The St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School Winter Concert will be at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 9, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts on the school’s campus. Join the middle and upper school choruses and the upper school chamber ensemble for an evening of music, including tunes from Lennon and McCartney, Tchaikovsky and more. The choirs and ensemble are under the direction of Katherine Anderson.

The eighth annual Jazz on the Mountain concert, featuring the Little Big Band and Friends will be at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10, in the Ayres Multicultural Center at the corner of Alabama Avenue and Willie Six Road in Sewanee. 

Under the direction of Gary Sturgis, the Sewanee Chorale will perform its annual Christmas concert at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13, in All Saints’ Chapel. Ruth Cobb will accompany the Chorale.

All of these events are free and open to the public.

Yelverton Guitar & Lute Concert on Monday

William Yelverton will perform a classical guitar and lute concert at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 16, in St. Luke’s Chapel on the Sewanee campus.

Admission is free and open to the public. The program will contain music from the Spanish and English Renaissance, a suite by G.F. Handel (originally for harpsichord), Brazilian choros, Spanish Flamenco and contemporary music from Russia, Brazil and the United States, including works by Koshkin, Gismonti and more. 

Yelverton is a as visiting professor of guitar at Sewanee while on sabbatical from Middle Tennessee State University. He has performed throughout the United States and in a dozen foreign countries. He is a prize-winner in the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition. Soundboard Magazine wrote that his exceptionally diverse programs of solo guitar and lute have “kept audiences spellbound.”

“Organ Plus” Recital Friday, Feb. 6th

The Easter term organ recital series begins at 5:15 p.m., today (Friday), Feb. 6, in St. Luke’s Chapel, with an unusual program, “Organ Plus,” which is free and open to the public. 

The concert will feature music for organ and instruments with University organist, Robert Delcamp, joined by music department faculty colleagues César Leal, Lucas Finney, Rebecca Van de Ven and Katie Lehman. 

The program includes the “Sonata for Saxophone and Organ” by Denis Bédard, “God is our Righteousness” by Chris DeBlasio for guitar and organ, Calvin Hampton’s “Variations on Amazing Grace” for English horn and organ and the “Quartet for Organ, Violin, Viola and Cello” by Marcel Dupré. 

Holiday Music Offerings

Sewanee Chorale

The Sewanee Chorale will perform its Christmas concert at 3 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 14, in All Saints’ Chapel. The concert will feature the music of John Rutter, one of the most prolific 20th-century Christmas composers. The concert will be under the direction of Gary Sturgis, his fifth year as conductor for the Sewanee Chorale. Kathy Sturgis joins the chorale as piano accompanist. Also performing will be Jane Hawkins of Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., on the bowed psaltery. 

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information contact Gary Sturgis at (931) 636-5294 or email <gksturgis@gmail.com>

Classical and Big Band,
Vocal Students

The voice students of Susan Rupert will perform on Saturday, Dec. 13, in St. Luke’s Chapel. Two group performances will feature a variety of musical styles. At 5:30 p.m., classical students will present a selection of art songs, old English songs, and an aria or two. At 7 p.m., the Big Band/Broadway section will join with the Sewanee Jazz Trio (Noel Workman, Bob Burns and Garry Collins) to offer golden oldies and popular Christmas melodies. The event is free and open to the public.

Four Hands, Two Feet

Organist Robert Delcamp and pianist Bernadette Lo will perform at 4:45 p.m., Friday, Nov. 21, in St Luke’s Chapel. This is a unique opportunity to hear an unusual repertoire written for two instruments whose timbres are both contrasting and complimentary.

The program includes “Sinfonia Op. 42” by Marcel Dupré, “Colloque No. 2” by Jean Guillou, “Hymne Op. 78” by Joseph Jongen and the “Concerto for Piano and Organ” by Flor Peeters.

Delcamp is a professor of music and University organist at the University. He also directs the University Choir. Under his direction the Choir has made eight recordings and 11 tours of England, including residencies at York Minster, Wells, Salisbury, and Canterbury cathedrals, as well as the American Cathedral in Paris.

Lo is a visiting assistant professor of music at Sewanee. She joined the department in 2011. She also serves on the faculty for Viola Winter Intensive. Lo is a much sought-after collaborative pianist, with extensive experience in both vocal and instrumental music.