The largest all-male collegiate choral group in the nation, the Brigham Young University Men’s Chorus, will perform in concert Friday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall. A matinee performance will also be held Saturday, March 26, at 3 p.m.
Tickets for both concerts are available now for $6 to $10 at byuarts.com/tickets.
BYU’s celebrated 230-member singing ensemble will be performing a variety of melodies from around the world, showcasing the group’s diverse repertoire.
Under the direction of faculty conductor Rosalind Hall and assistant conductor Evan Moss, the chorus’s program will be divided into six themes: “Singing Brothers,” a duo of hymns encouraging men to perform their duties; “Latin Settings, Old and New,” a collection of hymns from Christian liturgy; “Hymns and Anthems,” a series of traditional and modern hymns; “Love Stories,” a trio of romantic songs; “Crazy Animal Songs,” whimsical tunes for children and adults alike; and a finale of songs “From Around the World.”
Song selections include “Rise Up, O Men of God” by William Walter, “Agnus Dei” by William Byrd, “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy” by Philip Paul Bliss, “Love’s Philosophy” by Roger Quilter, “The Hippopotamus Song” by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann and the traditional Chinese folksong “Feng Yang Hua Gu.”
For select numbers, the chorus will be accompanied by Jonathan Keith and David Rusk on piano as well as Seth Bott on organ. Other instruments used in the concert will be the mandolin, guitar, string bass, Chinese flute, bagpipe, accordion and violin.
Founded in 1958, the BYU Men’s Chorus has steadily grown to its present membership of 230 voices, with more than 400 annually auditioning for the ensemble. As a result of its versatile literature and engaging performance style, the chorus has captured the admiration of audiences throughout the western United States and beyond. Its popularity results from hours of dedicated rehearsal, a diverse repertoire and a uniquely powerful and unified sound. The group records under BYU’s Tantara Records.
The Deseret News has said of the group, “For maturity, resonance, depth of commitment and power, the BYU Men’s Chorus can’t be touched,” and The Daily Herald has reported that “many clean-cut young men in navy blue blazers is a sight in itself. It’s not just the sound they make, powerful though it is and of such high quality that their chords resound in memory long after the concert’s over.”
For more information about the concert, contact Nathan Wright, BYU choral conductor, at (801) 422-5616 or choral_assistant@byu.edu. To learn more about the BYU Men’s Chorus, visit pam.byu.edu/similarpage.asp?title=Men's%20Chorus.
Writer: Philip Volmar
