Annual Christmas Concert to be presented by ETSU choral ensembles
November 15, 2001
JOHNSON CITY – The East Tennessee State University Chorale, the ETSU Men's and Women's Ensembles, and TenBucsWorth will present the annual Christmas Concert on Friday, Dec. 7, at 8 p.m. at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church, 201 E. Market Street.
The 75-voice Chorale, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jenrette, will perform a variety of sacred masterworks for the Christmas season, including four motets from the Renaissance period to the present by composers from the Netherlands. Jenrette, a professor of music at ETSU, studied music by Netherlands composers at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Rotterdam in 1999. The Chorale will also perform the cantata, “Rejoice in the Lamb,” which was written by 20th century British composer Benjamin Britten for soloists, mixed choir and organ. The organist for this performance is ETSU music faculty member and Chorale accompanist Craig Campbell, director of music at First United Methodist Church.
The ETSU Men's Ensemble has been invited to perform at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 18, and this local Christmas Concert includes music that the ensemble is preparing for its White House performance. The men will sing several arrangements of familiar Christmas carols, such as “The First Noel,” “Deck the Halls,” “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” and “I Saw Three Ships.”
Also appearing in this concert will be the ETSU Women's Ensemble under the direction of Randall Bennett, an ETSU graduate assistant in choral music.
Completing the program will be the popular male vocal ensemble TenBucsWorth, who will perform some serious choral music, such as two movements from the “Mass for Three Voices” by William Byrd, as well as lighter numbers like Christmas carols arranged for the groups Take 6 and Glad.
The members of TenBucsWorth are Clay Bailey, Lane Blevins and Zach Marshall, all of Bristol; Daniel Boner, Bridgeton, N.J.; Jon Foulk, Seymour; Rick Hilton and John Williams, both of Elizabethton; Michael Philbeck, Greeneville; and Russell Thompson and Travis Thompson, both of Piney Flats. Their accompanist is Robert Jeter, Elizabethton.
Concluding the concert the Chorale will perform festival arrangements of such favorite carols as “Joy to the World,” “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
This concert is free and open to the public. For more information or for special assistance or seating for persons with disabilities, call (423) 439-6949 or 439-4270.
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