Skylark Vocal Ensemble, OurSong and Spivey Hall Children’s Choir End 25th Anniversary Season on a High Note

Clayton State University’s Spivey Hall (www.spiveyhall.org), the Southeast’s premier recital hall renowned internationally for its superior acoustics and the excellence of its classical, jazz and world music artists, today announced May and June programming details for the final performances in the 25th anniversary season’s Spivey Series, including performances by three award-winning chorale groups.

The all-star Skylark Vocal Ensemble (May 21), comprised of leading American vocal soloists and chamber musicians, brings its emotionally-charged program in its Spivey Hall debut performance.  Also in May, the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir (May 13, 14 and 15) previews its program for its upcoming Carnegie Hall engagement. In June, OurSong: The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chorus, ends the season on a high note with its uplifting program Take Flight.

Spivey Hall’s Piano Series concludes with the extraordinary 26-year-old Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov (May 7) adding Spivey Hall to his impressive list of debut performances.

“Our season 25 celebrations with such fine musicians as pianist Behzod Abduraimov have rewarded Spivey Hall audiences with extraordinary music-making,” noted Executive and Artistic Director Sam Dixon. “We also could not be more proud that the Spivey Hall Children’s Choir, Dr. Martha Shaw and Judy Mason will perform in Carnegie Hall, and delighted to feature the vocal ensembles Skylark and OurSong, all of which extend their artistic reputations by touring and recording.”

In addition to the series concerts, Spivey Hall patrons can enjoy two free concerts presented by the Clayton State University Department of Visual and Performing Arts Division of Music, featuring some of its most talented musicians from the Clayton State University Chorale and Orchestra, and the Clayton County Honor Orchestra.

With free parking and close proximity to Atlanta, Spivey Hall’s 392-seat auditorium is the perfect option for an intimate music experience. For full program details for all performances, tickets or more information, call the Spivey Hall Box Office at (678) 466-4200, or visit www.spiveyhall.org. In addition to the standard ticket pricing indicated for each performance, there is a 50 percent discount available to students and Georgia educators with ID. Discounted tickets are available only through the box office, which is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

 

Behzod Abduraimov, piano

Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

 

“He has an easy, agreeably confident and youthful manner at the keyboard and fingers that seem as though they were made to create rainbows.” (Los Angeles Times) Behzod Abduraimov makes his Spivey Hall debut with an emotionally far-ranging program including Franz Schubert’s Moments musicaux D. 780, Nos. 2 and 3; Ludwig van Beethoven’s popular Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, “Appassionata;” and Modest Mussorgsky’s colorful Pictures at an Exhibition.

Tickets are priced at $50 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now.

A dinner prior to the performance is available for an additional fee of $40 per person. The dinner will be held at 5:45 p.m. in the Harry S. Downs Education Center; price includes entrée, beverage and dessert. The deadline for purchasing dinner tickets is noon on Monday, May 2, 2016. Advanced purchase through the box office is required; dinners may not be purchased the day of concert.

Program Web Notes providing detailed background and synopsis information will be available prior to the concert at www.spiveyhall.org. Audio Web notes are online program notes enriched by short music samples that give patrons the chance to hear what the program notes are talking about.

Behzod Abduraimov’s Spivey Hall performance is made possible through the generosity of Spivey Hall Friends Concert Sponsor Michael Koch, MD.

 

Spivey Hall Young Artists

Spivey Hall Children’s Choir

Spivey Hall Tour Choir

Friday, May 13, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

Spivey Hall Children’s Choir

Spivey Hall Tour Choir

Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

 

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir celebrates its twenty-second season with three concerts proudly showcasing the talents of its 170 young members. Dr. Martha Shaw conducts the 120-member Children’s Choir, including the 50 advanced singers of the Tour Choir, accompanied by Judy Mason, while Craig Hurley leads his Young Artists with accompanist Marcena Kinney.

The spring concerts are performed in part as preparation for the Tour Choir’s June 26 concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The repertoire for the Children’s and Tour choirs is a celebration of multinational styles, featuring songs in Russian, Spanish, French, German, Sanskrit and English. reflecting the varied cultures of New York City.

The Young Artists will take the Spivey Stage for the second time this season offering a wide range of literature.  The choir will start the program with George Frideric Handel’s, “O Let the Merry Bells,”  followed by two songs from Ruth Watson Henderson’s collection of Animal Tales: “Tree Toad” and “Lone Dog.”  They will then present “Grow Little Tree” with an original melody by Andrea Ramsey.  The Young Artists will close their season with a challenging Susan Brumfield arrangement of a French tongue twister titled “Ton Thé.”

Tickets are priced at $25 and are available for purchase now.

 

Skylark Vocal Ensemble

Matthew Guard, artistic director and conductor

Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

Pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m.

 

Described by ArtsATL as “a gem… soloists who come together to create a dynamic and inspiring whole,” the Skylark Vocal Ensemble makes its Spivey Hall debut with a spell-binding performance of Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-night Vigil (“Vespers”).  Interspersed between the movements will be several ancient Byzantine and Kievan chants that inspired Rachmaninov’s transcendent 1915 setting.

Tickets are priced at $40 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now.  A pre-concert talk given by Skylark Artistic Director/Conductor Matthew Guard begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Music Education Building and is included in the ticket price.

This Spivey Hall Series Concert welcomes elementary-aged children and above.

 

OurSong: The Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chorus

Dr. Robert Glor, Conductor

Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

 

OurSong wraps up Spivey Hall’s 25th Anniversary Season with an evening of music that speaks to the beauty of imagination and sky-high ambitions. Take Flight explores the human experience of flight with works by great American composers Morten Lauridsen, Eric Whitacre, Takik O’Regan and Jake Runestad; Shawn Kirchner’s southern gospel arrangements; and pop and stage music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Tickets are priced at $25 (with discounts for subscribers, groups, students and Georgia educators), and are available for purchase now.

Clayton State University

Department of Visual and Performing Arts

Clayton State University Chorale and Orchestra

Dr. Michael Fuchs, conductor

W.A. Mozart, Requiem

Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.

Clayton County Honor Orchestra

Richard Bell, conductor

Nancy Conley, conductor

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

 

The Clayton State University Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Division of Music shine in two performances showcasing its most talented artists and musicians. Of special note is a full performance of Mozart’s Requiem (featured in many films, including Amadeus) featuring four Clayton State soloists: Division of Music faculty soprano Dr. Christina Howell and tenor Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller, plus alumna mezzo-soprano Lianna Wimberly Williams and alumnus bass Iván Segovia.

Admission to these Division of Music performances in May is free, with no tickets required.