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The MC Singers, Mississippi College’s premier choral ensemble, will explore the power of the written word during a Homecoming concert scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, in Provine Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.
Entitled “Words,” the production will feature choir pieces drawn from classic textual sources.
“We want people to come and be inspired by great writers of text, spanning from the Bible to more recent works,” said Beth Everett, MC assistant professor and director of choral activities.
The concert’s theme sprang from the production’s opening song, a popular setting of the first three verses in the Gospel of John by Rosephanye Powell, “The Word Was God.” Everett, who is friends with Powell, said the catchy piece is a favorite in the MC Singers’ repertoire.
“There are so many wonderful sources of text,” she said. “I wanted to perform this piece, which the MC Singers have done in the past, so I took its message and developed this entire concert theme around words.”
She said the production will include a wide variety of musical styles to interpret beloved texts in six separate movements.
In addition to the Powell setting, the concert will include several French pieces by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke composed by Paul Hindemith; a setting of a John Donne sacred sonnet; selections from the Book of Psalms performed in Latin; a Moses Hogan setting of the spiritual, “Cert’nly Lawd;” a piece with lyrics taken from an abstract poem by Jose Garcia Villa called “Moonlight Watermelons,” and a finale that hints at a South American composition but contains no words at all.
The concert will be sung almost exclusively a cappella; pianist Robert Knupp, MC professor of music, will accompany the choir on one piece only.
Everett said the concert presents challenges that will test the MC Singers’ impressive choral abilities.
“Singing in the French language is never easy,” she said. “The final piece imitates the sounds of the piano. The rhythms are challenging. The harmonies are different than other pieces we do. It’s really pushed us.
“But this group continues to grow,” Everett added.
For more information about MC Homecoming, visit www.mc.edu/homecoming.
