UF Concert Choir presents 'Mostly Multicultural Musical Musings' on Oct. 22

October 21, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida College of Fine Arts School of Music presents “Mostly Multicultural Musical Musings” conducted by Will Kesling. The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 in the University Auditorium.

The musical is comprised of folk music from around the world with a mix of other interesting works by American composers. Countries represented in the performance include Mongolia, Russia, Japan, Africa and more.

“Mostly Multicultural Musical Musings” features the music of Eastern Mongolian Xixian Qu and Native American René Clausen along with British- and Czech-influenced music from Kesling.

The centerpiece of the concert, Clausen’s “Crying for a Dream,” was originally written in 1994 as a commission from the American Choral Directors Association for a premiere performance at their regional convention in Rapid City, S.D. The work has a Native American theme because Rapid City is in the middle of Lakota Sioux country.

The work was written using text and language from a variety of Native American tribes, such as Lakota and Teton Sioux and leaders such as Sitting Bull and Chief Seattle.

According to Clausen, the piece is not specific only to Native American music, which is simple in melodic structure and dance rhythms. Instead, he said he wrote music clothed in modern compositional techniques and language and used elements of Indian musical motifs.

The Concert Choir performance also will feature “Kyrie,” another piece by Clausen, which was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) as a piece commemorating the tragedies of Sept. 11 for performance at the 2003 ACDA National Convention in New York City.

Tickets are free to UF students, $10 for the general public and $8 for UF faculty, staff and non-UF students. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 352-392-ARTS (ext. 2787) or visit www.ticketmaster.com.