Shippensburg University was full of music on Saturday as several SU musical ensembles performed their fall semester concerts.
Old Main Chapel hosted the flute choir, the saxophone choir and the clarinet choir all in one day as the groups performed to a packed house; each individual group performed three to four songs of various genres.
The flute choir, directed by Suzanne Thierry, started with a short piece before playing a ballad written in 1949. After giving a small lesson on the different type of flutes, they ended with two suites, one of which was a Christmas tune aimed at getting the crowd into the holiday spirit.
The saxophone choir, directed by Christopher Ritter, took the room by storm with their first piece, “Flight of the Bumblebee,” an up-tempo song that displayed the players’ abilities and which featured a difficult solo performed on soprano saxophone. The choir then played “Shepard’s Hey,” followed by a German piece. They ended their set with a saxophone quartet.
The clarinet choir, also directed by Christopher Ritter, played three pieces, all by 18th and 19th century composers, including Mozart. The crowd gave a large round of applause for the groups of talented musicians.
Later that evening, the Concert Choir and the Madrigal Singers performed at Messiah Methodist Church. The church was full of students and adults listening to the wide selection of music picked by director Dr. Elizabeth Shoenfelt.
The choir started with two short pieces, an intro piece followed by “Alleluia.” The Madrigal singers then performed their two songs of night before the concert choir returned to the stage for two more songs.
After a performance of “Cindy,” a traditional folk song about a beautiful woman, the choir took a ten-minute intermission while the crowd stretched their legs and listened to a piano solo performed by the group’s accompanist.
The choir returned for a down-tempo version of “This Little Light of Mine” and ended the evening with “Joshua” and a Gaelic blessing song. The group received thunderous applause from the crowd as they walked out of the church.
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