Centenary’s Camerata Choral Ensemble Sets Jan. 19 Benefit Concert Prior to Tour and Performance at National Music Educators Event and Spivey Hall

Centenary's Camerata Choral Ensemble

SHREVEPORT, LA – Centenary College’s Camerata choral ensemble will give a Benefit Concert at 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19 in the Anderson Auditorium of the Hurley Music Building, just prior to leaving for a tour and two prestigious national performances. Tickets for the benefit, $10 each, are available from Camerata members or at the Hurley School of Music.

Funds raised from the pre-tour concert will assist students in attending the National Association for Music Education’s national conference, known as MENC.e prestigious invitation -- a first for Centenary -- to perform at the Jan. 23 conference was extended last year following a rigorous audition procedure by a committee of the nation’s finest music educators. Centenary Camerata

Prior to the Camerata performance at MENC in Savannah, Ga., the ensemble will also perform by invitation on the nationally recognized Educational Concert Series at Spivey Hall in Morrow, Ga., one of the most sought-after performance venues in the world. That performance will take place at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 23.

Camerata, under the direction of Julia Thorn and accompanied by Gay Grosz, is a 40-voice choral ensemble from Centenary’s Hurley School of Music. The composition of the group is primarily music majors, although membership is open to all Centenary students by audition.

Since completing recent recordings for Santa Barbara Music Publishers, Camerata performances have been lauded for technical excellence combined with genuine understanding of musical expression.

Included in each Camerata concert is a selection of pieces by the Centenary Chorale, a group of chamber singers chosen from Camerata. Chorale specializes in sensitive interpretations of music of an intimate nature written for the small ensemble.

The benefit concert will incorporate a wide variety of musical styles and languages featuring several talented student soloists. All of the music programmed for the concert will be performed on the MENC tour, which includes several churches and high schools in addition to the Spivey Hall and MENC appearances.

“The students in Camerata are extremely excited about sharing the quality of the music department with educators and other students from across the country,” Dr. Thorn said. “They are keenly aware that the honor of being invited to perform at such a venue places tremendous value on what we as classically trained musicians work diligently to achieve on a daily basis.”

This relatively unknown choir from Centenary College is developing a reputation for superior musical standards that will bring national recognition in choral music to the city of Shreveport.

For further information, contact Dr. Thorn or Dr. Gale Odom, dean of the Hurley School of Music, at 318-869-5235.

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