The accomplished musicians in the Community Chorus and Community Orchestra presented an evening of beautiful and interesting music for members of the KAUST community on Sunday evening, November 18 in the Auditorium.
The chorus, conducted by Jennifer Hermanson and accompanied by Jaein Yoo, entertained the audience with a variety of musical numbers from the lovely “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind” by John Purifoy with text by William Shakespeare to Kirby Shaw’s catchy arrangement of” Bridge Over Troubled Waters” by Paul Simon, which featured soloists Corry Moriarty and Madison Tyler. Other numbers were “The Silence and the Song” with text and music by Mark Patterson and “Homeland” by Gustav Holst.
The orchestra conducted by Chuck Brooker, performed G. F. Handel’s “Water Music,” a familiar but intricate composition with its counterpoint variations. Other numbers included “Themes from the Moldau” by Czech composer Bedrich Smetana, “Farandole” from “L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2” by George Bizet and Soon Hee Newbold’s “Calypso Sea,” with its lively drums and Caribbean beat. A highlight of the evening was the piece “Liang Xiao” by Liu Tianhua, arranged by Mavis Pan. This hauntingly beautiful tune, featured soloist Chengcheng Tang, a PhD candidate in Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences/Geometric Modeling and Scientific Visualization Center, playing an erhu, an ancient Chinese instrument.
Persons interested in joining either the chorus or the orchestra should contact Wendy Keyes, Coordinator of Arts Programming, at wendy.keyes@kaust.edu.sa.
2 Comment
It was an excellent evening; the standard of music was very high, and the whole event came across very well. KAUST has some very multi-talented people!!
I missed it as I was working overtime 🙁 arent these shows recorded? Wouldn’t it be a great idea to have the songs, at least, recorded in a CD and have copies sold in the Souvenir gift shop? It would be a remarkable item that I would surely buy.