MUS 101-04 - Grinnell Singers

1 credits (Fall and Spring)

The Grinnell Singers is a select ensemble that performs distinguished choral music from a wide variety of traditions, with repertoire that spans five centuries – from Brahms to Bluegrass, from Renaissance England to twenty-first century New York. Each year brings new, adventurous projects. Highlights for 2012-13 included: hosting one of Cuba’s foremost professional choirs, performing Carol Barnett’s celebrated Bluegrass Mass, traveling on a Spring-Break tour to Chicago, Ann Arbor, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and New York, and participating in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. This year’s season will include a collaboration The Lyra Consort, a professional period-instrument orchestra from Minneapolis, in a performance of Handel’s oratorio, Esther. The ensemble has also commissioned major composers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stucky and, in 2012, the rising star Mohammed Fairouz. For more enterprising musicians, the ensemble affords excellent opportunities for leadership. The assistant conductor and section leaders play important roles, and thereby the students gain valuable experience in conducting and rehearsal management. An elected choir council actively shapes the choir’s work. In addition to their ambitious musical activities, the Grinnell Singers pursue service projects, and they aspire to create a supportive, cohesive organization that serves as a positive force both for its members and for the community at large.

Prerequisite: Ability to read music notation. Audition required.
S/D/F only.
Instructor: Rommereim