Release Date: March 19, 2008
Concert at Kennesaw State features choral music from Argentina
Contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Assistant Director of Public Relations, 770-499-
3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
KENNESAW, Ga.—On April 1, the Kennesaw State University Chamber Singers will present an evening of Latin American choral music, featuring the music of Argentina. The Chamber Singers will be accompanied by guest performers Mary Akerman, guitar; John Lawless, percussion; and Sam Skelton, saxophone. The performance will be held at 8 p.m. in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center.
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Leslie Blackwell |
Leslie Blackwell, associate professor of music and music education, is the director of the Chamber Singers and will present a lecture recital throughout the program. "We are singing folk songs from Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil." The concert was inspired by a musical study trip that Blackwell took to Salta, Argentina last year. "Several of these pieces haven't yet been performed outside their country of origin."
One of the more remarkable pieces of the evening is the "Misa Criolla" mass by Ariel Ramirez, an Argentinean composer. "This was one of the first masses to be written in the vernacular of the composer's native country, as opposed to being sung in Latin," said Blackwell. "The piece also features instruments indigenous to Argentina."
"The KSU Chamber Singers and all of the faculty musicians participating in
this concert are phenomenal," said Blackwell. The KSU Chamber Singers is comprised of 44 mixed voices and is the premiere choral ensemble at KSU.
Mary Akerman, assistant professor of music, performs to critical acclaim all over the world. She has won numerous medals in guitar competitions in the United States and abroad, including top honors in the Casa de Espana of Puerto Rico, the Guitar Foundation of America, and in the Concours International Radio France competitions. In addition to being a soloist, Akerman conducts guitar classes and workshops and has judged several guitar competitions.
John Lawless, director of percussion studies and lecturer in percussion, is a founding member of the Atlanta Percussion Trio and serves as principal timpanist of the Atlanta Opera and the Chattanooga Symphony. With the APT, he performs in over 600 shows annually.
Sam Skelton, director of jazz studies and lecturer in saxophone, has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Atlanta Pops, the Peachtree Pops, the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, the Cobb Symphony Orchestra and with his own quartet, Drive Time.
The concert will be held April 1 at 8 p.m. in the Bailey Performance Center. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.kennesaw.edu/arts.
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Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population exceeding 20,000 from 132 countries. The third largest state university out of 35 institutions in the University System of Georgia, KSU offers more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
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.