NEWS RELEASE
For immediate publication (4/2/07)
Contact: Steve Scheffler, (936) 273-7224
Amy Cooper, (936) 273-7021
Lone Star College–Montgomery Music Tours Louisiana
Lone Star College–Montgomery Music Department presents: The Lone Star College–Montgomery Chamber Singers 2007 Spring Tour. The Chamber Singers will perform throughout the New Orleans area under the direction of Associate Professor of Music, Gregory Ristow. This program of a cappella music for choir marks the 2nd annual tour for the group. Public performances are provided free of charge at two locations in New Orleans: April 19th, 7:30 p.m. at St. Matthew Central United Church of Christ, and April 20th, 7:30 p.m. at St Anna’s Episcopal Church. In addition the group will present private performances for students at The McGehee School on April 20th at Noon. On April 21st the group will perform at 1:00 p.m. at St. James Place Retirement Community in Baton Rouge. The Lone Star College–Montgomery Chamber Singers is a select ensemble of students and community members from the northern Houston suburbs.
Associate Professor of Music Gregory Ristow has conducted concerts with the Eastman Repertory Singers, Gregory Kunde Chorale, and World Youth Honor Choir at Interlochen, as well as recordings of new compositions with the Eastman Chorale. In addition to his duties at Lone Star College–Montgomery, he is the Director of the Eastman Summer Dalcroze Institute and serves on the faculty of the Eastman Choral Conducting Institute.
The Chamber Singers tour program includes a wide variety of music, in both popular and classical styles. “I don’t want to give too much away,” says Ristow, “but we’ll open with a hilarious doo-wop style arrangement of Mozart’s Overture to the Marriage of Figaro. After that we’ll move into more ‘serious’ music, from the Renaissance, Romantic and Modern eras. We’ll close with three American spirituals, which will give us a chance to showcase some of the star solo voices in the choir.” Besides the spirituals and Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Overture, The Chamber Singers will also perform music by William Byrd, Samuel Barber (author of the famous Adagio for Strings), Edvard Grieg, and a work by Einojuhani Rautavaara set to poetry by Garcia Lorca.
As Director of Choirs and a faculty member, Ristow is dedicated to his students and the performing arts. Each year the choir travels to new venues. “A tour like this is a great chance for us to share our music making with a much wider audience. Moreover, New Orleans is such a famously musical town, it’s an honor to have the chance to perform there.”
This is the second year for the Lone Star College–Montgomery Chamber Singers Spring Tour and the students prepare all year long to provide a variety of pieces to varied audiences. “Presenting a full program of ‘a cappella’ music – music with no piano accompaniment – is a challenge for singers of this age. They’ve really risen to the occasion!” The Chamber Singers and Concert Choir will return from their travels to complete the tour with a concert for our Lone Star College–Montgomery community on April 26th at 7:30 p.m. including a special performance of Gabriel Faure’s Requiem. The tour is open to the community and free of charge at most facilities.
Performance dates and locations:
April 19th, 7:30 p.m. at St. Matthew Central United Church of Christ (1333 S. Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA) Open to public, free admission.
April 20th, Noon at The McGehee School (2343 Prytania St., New Orleans, LA)
April 20th, 7:30 p.m. at St Anna’s Episcopal Church (1313 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, LA) Open to public, free admission.
April 21st at 1:00 p.m. at St. James Place Retirement Community in Baton Rouge (333 Lee Drive, Baton Rouge, LA).
The Lone Star College–Montgomery music department offers an Associate’s degree in music with transfer to any Texas music program as a junior. As part of a Lone Star College–Montgomery music education all music majors receive an Apple iPod to use within the program to support coursework and an opportunity to work one-on-one with nationally-known faculty. For more information about the Chamber Singers Tour or the music department at Lone Star College–Montgomery contact Amy Cooper 936.273.7021 or Gregory Ristow 936.273.7270. Check out http://music.montgomery-college.com
Lone Star College System, among the five largest and fastest-growing community colleges in Texas, comprises Lone Star College-North Harris, Lone Star College-Kingwood, Lone Star College–Tomball, Lone Star College–Montgomery, Lone Star College–CyFair, seven satellite centers and The University Center.
Electronic documents and files may be sent to your email or company server / contact Amy Cooper at amy.f.cooper@lonestar.edu or 936.273.7021