MANSFIELD,
Pa. – The Mansfield University Music Department will welcome back to campus
more than 150 alumni singers who have participated in Concert Choir and
Mansfieldians over the years to celebrate 55 years of continuous music-making.
Rehearsals
begin on Friday, April 1 culminating in two concert performances: the
Mansfieldians on Saturday, April 2 at 7:30 pm in Steadman Theatre and the
Concert Choir on Sunday, April 3 at 2:30 pm in Straughn Auditorium.
The Mansfieldians Alumni represent students who attended MU from
1975-2021. During that time, the
Mansfieldians were directed by former MU professors Jack Wilcox, Youngsuk Kim,
and current MU professors Peggy Dettwiler and Sheryl Monkelien.
The concert will feature three Alumni Mansfieldians ensembles
determined by the years each person attended MU. The 1975-2001 ensemble will be conducted by
both Youngsuk Kim and Peggy Dettwiler. Each
group will perform music representative of their years in the Mansfieldians
including There‘s No Business
Like Show Business, arr. Mark
Brymer; The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, arr.
AndyBeck; andLonesome
Road, arr. Prosser.
The other two ensembles from 2001-2011 and 2012-2022 will be
conducted by current Mansfieldians director Sheryl Monkelien. Repertoire
includes: On A Clear Day,
arr. Darmon Meader (with MU Jazz Ensemble); Blues
in the Night, arr. Phil
Mattson; Moondance, arr.
Jeremy Fox; It‘s Alright With
Me, arr. Ward Swingle. In addition, two MU alums, Elizabeth Webb and
Brandon Bitner will perform solos with the MU Jazz Ensemble.
The current Mansfieldians will present Ain‘t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,
arr. Darmon Meader (with the MU Jazz Ensemble) and The More I Need You, arr. Paul Langford. The MU Jazz
Ensemble is directed by Jeff Jacobsen.
The concert will conclude with all singers performing the
beautiful Phil Mattson arrangement of I‘ll
be Seeing You. The concert will be live streamed on the Mansfield University Music YouTube channel.
The Sunday concert
in Straughn Auditorium features about 150 alumni singers from the years 1969
through 2021 under the direction of Peggy Dettwiler. Their program features Richte mich Gott by Felix Mendelssohn, Walk Together Children, arranged by Moses Hogan, and Abide with me arranged by MU alum, Bill
Cutter. Two more selections on the program feature solo instruments: Johnny
Has Gone for a Soldier by Rene Clausen with Joseph Murphy, MU faculty on
the Saxophone, and MU Alum, Roderick Nevin, accompanying Amazing Grace on Bagpipes.
The concert will
begin with a performance by the MU Concert Choir with the program they have
prepared for their appearance at the PA Music Educators State Conference the
next week: Sogno di Volare, Exultate Deo,
Juramento, Elijah, Threads of Joy, and
Clap Praise, most of which have been performed before in October and
December but now are presented as a unit without applause.
A wonderful finale
with all singers on stage and in the aisles features Somewhere by Leonard Bernstein from West Side Story.
Learn more about the Mansfield University Music Department at music.mansfield.edu. Support MU Music at give.mansfield.edu.