Choral union, orchestra to perform concert Nov. 23

The Ripon College Choral Union and Orchestra will perform a concert, Sunday, Nov. 23, at 3:15 p.m., in Demmer Recital Hall of Ripon College’s C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts.

Admission is free and open to the public. Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities Paul Thompson is the conductor of the choral union and Adjunct Instructor of Music Yukiko Grine will conduct the orchestra. The choral union will feature their accompanist, Paul Thelen, on organ for this concert.

The choral union, a group open to students, faculty, staff and community members, will sing the first half of the concert, and the orchestra will play the second half.

“Choral union continues to gain new members from Ripon and the surrounding communities,” Thompson said. “This particular concert will give several of our singers a chance to showcase their solo singing abilities on the ‘Missa Brevis in C Major, K. 259’ by Mozart.”

Featured singers include Linda DeCramer ’89, sophomore Mekena Gerlikovski, Betsy Heffernan, Al Kraus, Chad Kraus, Tammi Kenton, Sherman Leatherberry, Lori Page, Lucie Petri-Rose ’25 and Danielle Scott.

The choral union will also be joined by a small group of instrumentalists from the orchestra for the Mozart piece and a piece titled “Ecce Nunc Benedicite” by Polish Baroque composer Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki.

In addition to the Mozart and Gorczycki pieces, they will also sing “Bogoroditse Devo” by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

“[People should come to the concert] to get to hear the featured singers, and to experience this repertoire, which is not frequently performed,” Thompson said.

The orchestra will perform the first movement of Antonín Dvořák’s “Symphony No. 8,” “Ruslan and Ludmilla” by Mikhail Glinka and a “West Side Story” medley.

Senior Rori Beatty, a cello player, has been a part of the orchestra since her first year and encourages people to attend the concert.

“The orchestra has worked really hard to put this together and it has been great to see everyone’s growth,” Beatty said. “It will be an energetic program to listen to as well as play.”