20070328 Childrens Chorus Masterworks Chorale at McDaniel College

Children's Chorus of Carroll County and Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County to perform at McDaniel College

Newly commissioned work premiers at McDaniel College

March 28th, 2007 – Posted April 6th, 2007

The Department of Music at McDaniel College, in conjunction with the Children's Chorus of Carroll County and Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County, presents three concerts featuring a newly commissioned work, "Journeys to Freedom: Rännakud Vabadisse."

The Children's Chorus concert will be held at 3 p.m. and the College Choir Concert at 7 p.m. on April 22, both in (Big) Baker Memorial Chapel.

The Masterworks concert will be held at 7 p.m. May 13 in (Big) Baker Memorial Chapel.

Tickets for the Masterworks concert cost $12 for adults, and are free for children and students with ID. To purchase Masterworks tickets, call 410-871-3371 or visit the website at http://www.masterworksofcc.org/.

"Journey to Freedom: Rännakud Vabadisse" combines folk songs from America and Estonia and reflects the long struggle both nations have experienced on the journey to freedom and human dignity.

"This commission is one of several we made in the last decade to encourage combining voices of all ages in order to help nurture attitudes of lifelong community singing," says Music Professor Margaret Boudreaux. "Early on we decided to incorporate Estonian music into the piece as a natural outgrowth of the Children's Chorus five-year involvement with that country, and were delighted to discover a composer who had resided and studied for a significant period of time in Estonia."

Composer Rebecca Oswald is the winner of several competitions and awards. Most recently, IndieAcoustic selected "Periwinkle Blue," from her October Wind CD, as one of their "Songs of Note 2005," calling it "one of the best songs of 2005."

In 2004, she received a commission prize to write a multi-lingual choral work, "Reciprocity," for the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music, as well as to write a string trio in honor of composer George Crumb for the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium.

In 2002, her work "Let Him Return," received Top Honors in the Waging Peace through Singing International Choral Composition Competition. Oswald attended Westminster Choir College and University of Oregon
School of Music.

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