Collaborations kicks off GVSU Fall Arts Celebration

Audiences will get the best of both performing groups as Grand Valley State University Department of Music Artist-faculty and students take the stage for “Collaborations.”

The concert, at 8 p.m. on Monday, September 10, will be in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus. Admission is free and open to the public. A reception after the concert will give the audience an opportunity to meet the performers.

The concert for orchestra, wind ensemble, and chorus will feature an uplifting selection of works including Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets, Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy as the grand finale.

Danny Phipps, director of the Department of Music and Dance, said that when Beethoven wrote Chorale Fantasy, he was already thinking about his 9th symphony.

“You can hear a hint of his Ode to Joy theme,” said Phipps. “The whole concept of orchestra and chorus was something he was beginning to explore in this piece. You won’t walk away from this concert without smiling and you will be singing the melody for weeks.”

Sponsored by a gift from Virginia Gearhart and the Gearhart family, the concert is the first of Grand Valley’s six Fall Arts Celebration 2007 events. Media sponsors are Newsradio WOOD 1300 and Star 105.7.

Now in its fifth year, the Fall Arts Celebration continues to enrich the West Michigan community. President Thomas J. Haas supports this tradition and strongly believes that one of the missions of a regional university is to provide the community with a series of exceptional events in the arts and humanities.

“We hope that the consistent excellence of the celebration's performances every year, fall after fall, remind people of Grand Valley's academic excellence--more diverse, but no less intense and exciting,” said Fred Antczak, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and spokesperson for the Celebration.

For information on additional FAC events, visit www.gvsu.edu/fallarts or call (616) 331-2180.