The Chamber Orchestra of the Reformed University of Barranquilla, Colombia will perform a concert on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the John and Dede Howard Recital Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Presenting its U.S. Tour 2016, titled, “Music among Friends,” the Chamber Orchestra is directed by James Schutmaat of the Reformed University in Barranquilla, Colombia. From the beginning of the Reformed University Music Program in 2007, the ensemble and chamber music groups were formed following the educational tradition of the Schutmaat family, who were missionaries of the Presbyterian Church when they first arrived in Colombia in 1946. The Schutmaat family’s main purpose was to introduce the general public to the world of classical music. This effort resulted in the creation of the Alvin Schutmaat Music School within the educational system of the Presbyterian Church.
Following the example of his parents, director James Schutmaat decided to unite the talent of music professors and advanced students in order to form the Reformed University Chamber Orchestra, which has become known on a regional and national level. Within its repertoire are works of composers from the baroque, classical and romantic periods, including Arcangelo Corelli and Edvard Grieg. The group has also presented works by the director.
The Reformed University is an institution of higher education, founded in May 2002 by the Presbyterian Church in Colombia. It is the first Reformed university in the country, and seeks to use the principles and spirit of the Reformed tradition to offer an alternative formation and train a new generation of Christian leaders for the country. Among other objectives, the university states that it seeks “to prepare students in all areas enabling them to seek solutions to problems of the region and nation.”
The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.