MCC Wind and Jazz Ensembles, College Singers Present “A Music Spectacular!” Feb. 23

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The Downtown Live Concert Series continues on Sunday evening, Feb. 23, when MCC’s Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, and College Singers will present “A Music Spectacular!” in the Frauenthal Theater, 425 W. Western Ave.

Tickets for the concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m., are $10 for adults and $2 for students. Tickets are available online at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/6541393/mcc-music-spectacular-muskegon-frauenthal-theater-at-frauenthal-center. The doors open at 7 p.m. For more information, contact the MCC Arts and Humanities Department at (231) 777-0324.

Directed by Daniel M. Meyers, the Wind Ensemble will perform three selections:

  • Joy Revisited” by Frank Ticheli A boisterous, uninhibited quality is implied in the music, not only at climactic moments, but also by the frequent presence of sudden and dramatic stylistic contrasts. The main melody and overall mood of the 2005 work were inspired by the birth of the composer’s first child.
  • “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral” by Richard Wagner arr. Lucien Cailliet A treasured icon in the wind band repertoire since its introduction in 1938, the work is a wedding procession from Richard Wagner’s tragic opera Lohengin.
  • “English Folk Song Suite” by Ralph Vaughan Williams Written in 1923, the suite consists of three movements. The first march is called Seventeen Come Sunday, the Intermezzo is subtitled My Bonny Boy and the final movement is based on four Folk Songs from Somerset.

The College Singers, directed by Nicholas Palmer, will sing:

  • “Tota Pulchra es Maria” by Orlando Di Lasso A late Renaissance sacred work in Latin by one of the most famous and influential musicians in Europe at the end of the 16th century.
  • This Marriage” by Eric Whitacre A delicate setting of a timeless love poem by the Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi written by Eric Whitacre for four-part a cappella chorus.
  • “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian Released in 1975, the Grammy Award-winning song’s lyrics were based upon a The New York Times article about a social outcast in high school. Critics have regarded “At Seventeen” as a type of anthem.
  • “Sing, My Child” by Sarah Quartel Originally commissioned a massed choir of more than 700 singers, this joyful text by the Canadian composer celebrates the beauty found all around us in everyday life.

Directed by Patrick Parrish, the Jazz Ensemble will play three selections:

  • “Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock arr. Mike Kamuf A jazz standard composed by Herbie Hancock and recorded for his 1964 album Empyrean Isles during his early years as one of the members of Miles Davis’ 1960s quintet.
  • When I Fall in Love” by Victor Young arr. Gordon Goodwin A popular song, released in April 1952, that has become a standard for many artists from Doris Day in 1952 to the 1996 Grammy Award-winning version by Natalie Cole on a “duet” with her late father Nat King Cole using the vocals from his 1956 cover.
  • “Oye Como Va” by Tito Puente arr. Paul Murtha The Latin Grammy Award-winning song was written by Latin jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente in 1962 and further popularized by the rock group Santana on their 1970 album Abraxas.