Release Date: March 2, 2009
Computer and choirs will perform new works by Jack Jarrett, Alice Parker
For media inquiries, contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Director of Public Relations, 770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
Kennesaw, Ga.—A computer will perform along with the Marietta Master Chorale, the Georgia Tech Chamber Choir, and the Kennesaw State University Community and Alumni Choir on a unique collaborative concert at 8 p.m. March 7 in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center. Using a program called NOTION, which was designed by composer Jack Jarrett, the computer will perform on two pieces, including a newly commissioned piece by Jarrett called “Verses from the Rubaiyat.” The choirs also will perform works by renowned composer Alice Parker. Both composers will be present.
The first half of the concert will include the works of composer and conductor Alice Parker, a graduate of the Juilliard School and long-time collaborator with the Atlanta Symphony's Robert Shaw. Parker is also the founder of Melodious Accord Inc., a nonprofit group that organizes concerts and symposia. She will conduct “SongStream,” a composition based on the poetry of American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay.
The second half of the concert will include the works of accomplished computer programmer and composer Jack Jarrett, creator of the NOTION composition software. Jarrett will conduct the premiere of his “Verses from the Rubaiyat,” which is based on the book of poetry, “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.”
To complete this night of music, all three choral groups will perform the world premiere of "Beauty and Blessings," an acappella work commissioned by the Chorale and for which Parker wrote both lyrics and music. Guest soloists for the evening include KSU members Oral Moses, bass baritone, and Adam Kirkpatrick, tenor; Grammy Award-winning mezzo soprano Nanette Soles; soprano and on-air WABE host Wanda Yang Temko; and Shorter College baritone Matthew Hoch.
Conductor Jerid Morisco will lead the Marietta Master Chorale. Jerry Ulrich is the director of the Georgia Tech Chamber Choir and Leslie Blackwell will direct the Kennesaw State University Community and Alumni Choir.
“Attending a concert with one world-renowned composer conducting his or her own piece and performing a newly commissioned world premiere is a wonderful event,” says Jerid Morisco, director of the Marietta Master Chorale. “This concert is just that, times two. We have two composers in residence and two world premieres. I promise it will be an amazing experience.”
For additional information and directions to the Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center, contact the KSU Box Office at 770-423-6650 or online at www.kennesaw.edu/arts.
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A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population of more than 21,000 from 142 countries. The third-largest university in Georgia, Kennesaw State offers more than 65 graduate and undergraduate degrees, including new doctorates in education and business.
The KSU College of the Arts is one of only four Georgia institutions to have achieved full national accreditation for all of its arts programs.