CONWAY, Ark. (August 2, 2016) – Fifteen Hendrix College Choir members traveled to Eastern Europe this summer to rehearse and perform at the Prague Choral Festival with peer musicians from the United States.
Hendrix choir student
participants included:
- Noah Adams ’19
- Marlee Bird ’19
- Blythe Bull ’19
- Michaela Edwards ’19
- Andrew Fleming ’18
- Sydney Hickok ’17
- Justin Lockhart ’19
- Trevor Loew ’18
- Ian McVinney ’17
- Kathleen Mowery ’18
- Beth Norman ’19
- Elizabeth Stapper ’17
- Brock Sullivan ’19
- Delaney Wells ’18
- Francie Wendorf ’19
After arriving in Prague, students began a week of intensive rehearsals with a consortium choir of students from Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and singers from the University of Minnesota and Twin Cities area.
The festival was conducted by Dr. Ryan Board of Pepperdine and Dr. Matthew Mehaffey of the University of Minnesota, a former advisor to Hendrix choral conductor and music professor Dr. Andrew Morgan, and culminated in a gala performance at Smetana Hall, one of Prague's premiere music venues.
The program featured choral works by Johannes Brahms (Nänie, op. 82), Petr Eben (Prager Te Deum 1989, written to celebrate the end of communist rule in Czechoslovakia), and Carl Orff (Carmina Burana). For Carmina, the students were joined by members of six choirs from the Czech Republic,
creating a chorus of nearly 300 voices.
While in Prague, the individual choirs also performed for one another. The Hendrix Choir's performance in St. Salvator Church featured repertoire from the group’s
2016 Commencement performance.
After the festival, a smaller group of Hendrix students continued their travels to Vienna, Austria, for four days of sightseeing that explored the city's rich musical history, including visits to the homes of Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn.
Students visited numerous museums and churches, and traveled through the local countryside to the town of Eisenstadt, Austria, where Haydn worked for nearly 30 years in the royal court of the Esterhazy family.
"The Prague Choral Festival gave Hendrix students an amazing opportunity to immerse themselves in choral music in a unique international setting. They grew musically through the challenges offered by the Festival conductors and strengthened in their group
cohesion by sharing the experience together,” said Dr. Morgan. “I'm immensely proud of their accomplishments and look forward to more exciting projects with them in the future!"
About
Hendrix College
Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges
That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.