​Free Concert to Offer Something for Every Music Lover

From the Italian Renaissance to modern-day Broadway, the upcoming Spring Works concert from the York College Concert Choir will offer a wide range of composers, time periods, and styles.  The concert theme is Musical Potpourri and will be performed Monday, April 22 at 7:30 P.M. in the Bartholomew Performing Arts Center.  There is no cost for admission and all are welcome to attend this final event of the arts year at York College. ​

​According to Dr. Clark Roush, professor of music and conductor of the choir, the concert will be a pleasure for all kinds of music lovers. The choir will perform classic pieces by established composers including John Rutter and Giovanni Palestrina, as well as modern American composers such as Elaine Hagenberg and Z. Randall Stroope.  

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The concert will feature three pieces with an African style as well as the signature piece of the British acapella ensemble The King’s Singers, “You Are the New Day.” The choir will also perform an arrangement of the music of Dolly Parton. Dr. Adrienne Dickson, adjunct music faculty, will be the featured soloist on the piece, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” which was a critical success for Parton in 1977. 

One of the highlights of the concert will be two original arrangements created by York College composers. The first is a piece Roush arranged from the song “Never Forget” from the soundtrack of Murder on the Orient Express. The song, originally performed by Michelle Pfeiffer and an orchestra, will feature York College junior and recent Songfest hostess Olivia Nabb singing the lead part. The choir will underscore Nabb, with violin, piano and cello accompaniment. YC faculty member Dr. Jaclyn Spivey will perform on violin and a musician from the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra will perform the cello part. Kay Magner will accompany this and several other pieces on piano. 

Other featured musicians in the concert include Victoria Miller (flute) and Matthew Roush (percussion). 

It will be a big night for YC music major Austin Hackel, whose arrangement of “You Will Be Found” from the Broadway sensation Dear Evan Hansen will also be performed. Hackel created the piece as a capstone assignment for an upper level music theory class. When Roush saw it, he knew it was something special. “It was really, REALLY good,” said Roush, noting that the song, which explores feelings of anxiety and inadequacy in a high school setting, resonates with choir members. “It’s about finding your voice and that seemed very appropriate,” he said. This song will be the finale of the concert and Roush predicts that the audience will love it as much as last year’s concert finale “Africa.”

The production will also feature Rick Alloway as narrator. Alloway is an associate professor of broadcasting at UNL and the general manager of the university radio stations. “He has a velvet voice,” said Roush, who is excited to bring his friend and professional contact to campus in this capacity. 

 No tickets or reservations are necessary for this performance. The concert begins at 7:30 and the auditorium opens at 7 p.m.