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Eric Whitacre	Morten Lauridsen

Learn about the composers and compositions

"Come with me under my coat..." as we invite you to experience the many emotions of life and love. Our concert begins with the gentlest of beautiful love songs, "The Coolin" by Samuel Barber, one of America's most important 20th century composers. The word "coolin" refers to a little curl on the back of the neck of a girl, or sweetheart, and evolved into the name "Colleen." The warm contentment of "The Coolin" turns to fiery passion in the Six Fire Madrigals by Morten Lauridsen, a prominent living composer originally from Portland. The Fire Madrigals reflect both style and passionate Italian poetry of the Renaissance, but expressed in a modern harmonic language of searing dissonance and heated resolution. Stepping further into the flames, Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer's "Fire" conjures up the primitive image and crackling sound of fire, perhaps in the dawn of civilization.

All this fire becomes quenched with the lush and rejuvenating "Cloudburst" by Eric Whitacre, a young rising star composer of astonishing insight and sensitivity. Whitacre's "hope, faith, life, love" concludes the first half of the concert with soothing affirmation, and we are once again in a place of contentment.

Members of the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble and Eugene Concert Choir will have the opportunity to work with Eric Whitacre this summer as participants in a festival concert in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China. The festival choir will perform the Mozart Requiem and works by Eric Whitacre, conducted by Mr. Whitacre himself.

After the intensity of the sophisticated vocal art music presented in the first half of the concert, we kick up our heels and have some fun with popular classics, from cool vocal jazz to warm ballads to cookin' upbeat numbers accompanied by a hot combo. We include some favorites recorded by the Manhattan Transfer and terrific arrangements of great Beatles' songs as recorded by the Swingle Singers on their Ticket to Ride album.