(May 12, 2015)

Centenary College Choir embarks on central European tour

SHREVEPORT, LA — The Centenary College Choir is currently in Europe on a two-week musical tour. Known as America's Singing Ambassadors, the Choir will perform at several concerts and services in Berlin, Leipzig, Prague, Vienna, Melk, and Salzburg. The engagements include an informal concert at St. Thomaskirche in Leipzig, the final resting place of Johann Sebastian Bach and where Martin Luther preached the implementation of the Reformation in 1539.

Dr. David Hobson, A.C. "Cheesy" Voran Choir Director, describes the central European experience as a music-lovers tour.

"We'll be visiting the hometowns of great composers such as Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms," said Hobson. "We've prepared quite a bit of Bach for the tour to help us understand his compositional genius."

The Choir's performance An Eclectic Requiem from Masters Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms represents an important period of influential music in the German tradition spanning almost 200 years.

"The insight gained through performance gives a unique lens into the musical cultures we will be studying and more incentive to know these masters and their music on a deeper level," said Hobson.

In addition to performing, many of the choir members are enrolled in the Musical Explorations: Central European Music course by Hobson to further discover German-Austrian music. The group is also visiting sites along the journey including the Mirabell Gardens, St Vitus Cathedral, and Brandenburg Gate.

Founded in 1941, the Centenary College Choir has performed throughout the world: singing for front-line troops in Korea, many American and European heads of state, NATO and American armed forces worldwide, ten international conventions of Lions International, three times for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Council of Bishops, and two lengthy engagements at New York's Radio City Music Hall.