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Musical Showcase at DeVos Hall
On March 3 Will Feature Variety

Posted February 12, 2003

HOLLAND -- A wide range of musical styles and instruments will bring DeVos Hall alive when Hope College presents its 15th annual Musical Showcase concert on Monday, March 3, at 8 p.m. in Grand Rapids.

Hope College students take the stage for the fast- paced concert, during which audience members will hear everything from opera to jazz.

And to top things off, the audience will be asked not to show any appreciation--at least, not at first. In the tradition of the quick moving musical event, audience members are asked to hold their applause until intermission, and the end of the performance.

The concert unveils the gifts of all Hope College's major musical groups, along with soloists, chamber groups and small ensembles.

The evening opens with "Abblasen Fanfare," by Gottfried Reiche, performed by piccolo trumpet player Alisa White, a senior from Sterling, Ill.

Faculty member Richard Piippo then directs the Symphonette in Gioacchino Rossini's "Overture to Semiramide."

A quick shift leads to senior soprano Alyson Payne, a senior from Three Oaks, performing a song from Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio."

Hope's Flute Choir follows with Francois Joseph Gossec's "Tambourin," under the direction of Julie Sooy. Jazz takes over as Brian Coyle's Jazz Chamber Ensemble performs Richard Van Voorst's "Red Carpet." Van Voorst is a junior from Holland.

A duo-piano piece, Francis Poulenc's "The Embarkation for Cythera," will be performed by freshman Abigail Rockwood of Muskegon and sophomore Joseph Turbessi of Nunica.

A quartet of saxophonists follows with a movement from Alfred Desenclos's "Quatour pour Saxophones." From there it is back to the summer when senior Josh Brandenburg of Hamilton, N.Y., reprises his role in Hope's Summer Repertory 2002 production of "Footloose" with the song, "Mama Says."

Horn and piano take center stage when horn player Hillary Dykema, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, and pianist Laura Ellis, a sophomore from Aurora, Ill., perform Bernard Heiden's rondo from "Sonata for Horn and Piano."

The Women's Chamber Choir, under the direction of Jennifer Wolfe, will sing Orlando Gibbons' "The Silver Swan," followed by Hope's Orchestra, under the direction of Piippo, performing the finale from Pytor Illych Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 5 in E minor."

All that in just the first half of the show.

Rockwood returns to the keyboard to open the second half, but this time at the organ as she performs Jacques Lemmens' "Fanfare."

Coyle returns to direct the Jazz Ensemble in Pat Metheny's "Minuano (Six-Eight)," and will be followed by pianist Ellis performing a piece by Alberto Ginastera.

Brad Richmond will direct Hope's Chapel Choir in the traditional "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen."

Sophomore Cari Chapin, flute, from Midland, is joined by pianist Lisa Walters, a freshman from Channahon, Ill., in the meditation from "Thais," by Jules Massenet.

Opera takes over when several students perform a scene from Douglas Moore's "The Ballad of Baby Doe," which shifts quickly over to Minoru Miki's "Marimba Spiritual," performed by the Percussion Ensemble under the direction of Greg Secor.

A trio of strings performs Ernst von Dohnanyi's "Serenade, Op. 10." The trio features senior violinist Joe Deller of Dearborn, junior violist Joe Gutowski of Muskegon and senior cellist Nick Toben of Troy.

A song from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutti" will be performed by sopranos Abby Whitenight of Ludington and Sara Luneack of Alma, both juniors.

The evening ends with the Wind Symphony, under the direction of Steven Ward, performing Paul Hindemith's "Fugue from Symphony in B-flat."

Tickets for Musical Showcase are $10 each, and may be ordered through the Office of Public Relations at Hope College. The office, open from 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, is located on the second floor of the DeWitt Center and may be called at (616) 395-7860.

Tickets may also be purchased over the counter at the Grand Center Ticket Office, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In addition, tickets may be ordered by phone through Ticketmaster by calling (616) 456-3333. A service fee is added to the cost of each ticket purchased this way.

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