| Contemporary Sounds |
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Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
Soreng Theater, Hult Center
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Concert Details
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| Eric Whitacre, Composer |
 Born in 1970, Eric Whitacre received his M.M. in compostion from the Juilliard School of Music, studying with John Corigliano and David Diamond. Today, Eric Whitacre is one of the bright stars in contempory concert music, and has quickly become a much commissioned, published and performed choral and symphonic composer, as well as an accomplished conductor and clinician. In addition, he also writes for the motion pictures and has a Grammy nomination to his name. Eric Whitacre has received composition awards from ASCAP, the Barlow International Foundation and the American Composers Forum. His Cloudburst, for mixed chorus, piano, hand bells and percussion, received first prize in the American Choral Directors Association's "Composers of the Future" competition.
Meet Eric and travel to China with the Eugene Concert Choir!
You can join the Eugene Concert Choir in June for our 11-day Performance tour of China, including Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. We will be performing the Mozart Requiem in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.
Celebrate the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart via the leadership of America's own young maestro, composer and conductor — Eric Whitacre. Eric and Kingsway International are inviting gifted choirs from the USA to share in the mystery of the Forbidden City in Beijing while performing the famed Mozart Requiem in the Forbidden City's magnificent Concert Hall! Maestro Eric Whitacre will conduct the combined chorus and professional orchestra from Beijing to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart.
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| Morten Lauridsen |
 Morten Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943 in Colfax, Washington) is an American composer with Danish roots. He grew up in Portland, Oregon, and attended Whitman College and the University of Southern California, where he studied advanced composition. He is a long-time professor and Chair of the Department of Composition at USC, and was also Composer in Residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001.
Along with Eric Whitacre, Lauridsen is one of America's most performed contemporary choral composers, and writes both sacred and secular music. Much of Lauridsen's appeal comes from his coloristic harmonies via added note tertian chords, perhaps most notably a 'signature' harmonic structure of a first-inversion major triad with an added tone a perfect fourth or major second above the chord root.
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| The Swingle Singers |
 The Swingle Singers is an a cappella group based in London England; made up of eight young singers who continue a fine singing tradition that was started over 40 years ago. Their arrangements of favorite Beatles tunes are exciting to hear, full of close harmonies and vocal jazz. The Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble will be performing Drive My Car, Blackbird/I Will, and Lady Madonna. |
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| The Manhattan Transfer |
 Since the early 1970s, The Manhattan Transfer have been pushing and redefining the boundaries of vocal music in the context of jazz, pop and numerous other styles. Along the way, the collective efforts of vocalists Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel have earned The Transfer a healthy collection of Grammy Awards and a loyal fan base that spans the entire globe. The Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble will be performing their version of Java Jive, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and Operator. |
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