Centenary College Choir to perform with Shreveport Symphony Orchestra
SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary College Choir will join the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra in concert at Shreveport's Riverview Theater on Saturday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m. for "Northern Lights," part of the SSO's Willis-Knighton Masterworks Series. SSO Music Director Michael Butterman will conduct the program that includes works by American and Finnish composers.
The Choir, along with the Northwestern State University Chamber Chorus, will perform the "ethereal and uplifting" Lux Aeterna, composed in 1997 by American Morten Lauridsen. Lauridsen composed Lux Aeterna during his mother's final illness and it premiered the year that she died. The work is a Requiem-themed piece in the spirit of Fauré and Duruflé, thematically embracing eternal light, comfort, and hope more so than the darkness and despair of death. According to Dr. David Hobson, A.C. "Cheesy" Voran Choir Director, Lauridsen's harmonic and melodic style beautifully captures the ethereal quality of eternal light, owing a great debt to chant and renaissance polyphony.
"The Centenary College Choir is honored to partner with the Northwestern State University Chamber Chorus and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra to perform this work," says Hobson. "I am particularly grateful our students have the opportunity to sing under such a baton as Michael Butterman, who always adds a rich understanding to the students’ performance."
"Northern Lights" also features Finnish composer Jean Sibelius' Karelia Suite and Symphony No. 5. A free concert conversation precedes the performance at 6:40 p.m. Single tickets for the concert start at $19 and student tickets are $12. Visit shreveportsymphony.com for more information and online ticketing.