The Fairfield University Glee Club rocks

The Fairfield University Glee Club rocks

The Fairfield University Glee Club, under the baton of Carole Ann Maxwell, D.S.M., presents the spring concert, "Rock the Creation" featuring special guest bands, The Logan Groovers and The Alexander Claydon Quintet at the Quick Center for the Arts on Saturday, April 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6, students and $10, general admission.

Dr. Maxwell, the ever-adventurous director of the Glee Club, settled on, as the evening's theme, music that has "rocked the creation in its respective centuries." And to fully explore the concept, she incorporates two unique band experiences into the evening.

The Logan Groovers is a combo comprised of John McGrath on drums, Andrew Festin on guitar, Dan Toplitt on bass and Brian St.Denis on saxophone and The Alexander Claydon Quintet features Alex Claydon and A. J. Piper on guitar and vocals, John McGrath on percussion, Pat Cardone on bass guitar and Anne Krane on vocals.

Franz Josef Haydn's "The Creation" was inspired by a Thomas Linley text on the creation of the world as described in Milton's "Paradise Lost" and the "Book of Genesis" from the Bible and was enthusiastically received at its 1798 premiere in Vienna. The Glee Club performs the third day, "Awake the harp."

Dr. Maxwell, cognizant of the intriguing combination of musical styles inherent in American rock - gospel, folk, blues, country and western and jazz - continues the evolutionary rock journey with rousing modern work.

Another, more recent "Creation" takes the form of a rock cantata written by 1970s composers David Bobrowitz and Steven Porter and is performed following Haydn's treatment of the same subject. The revered New England composer, Daniel Pinkham, also a product of the 1970s, hears and sees "In the Beginning of Creation" as Teatro Mundi, where sights, synthesized sounds, drama and media metamorphose into contemporaneity. The Chamber Singers are featured in Pinkham's work as well as in Marvin Curtis' "Praising Song."

The Men's Ensemble, directed by Peter McMahon and Jonathan Haskins, join with Sweet Harmony, directed by Catherine Hart and Jennifer Meuser, to continue the rock journey. Galen Tate is the Glee Club accompanist with Anthony DeQuattro on percussion, Chris Morrison on guitar and Mike Nunno on Bass. Rev. Charles H. Allen, S. J. is the Glee Club chaplain. The evening ends on notes by Paul Simon.

Tickets are available online at www.quickcenter.com or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. For further information, please visit the website at www.quickcenter.com.

Posted On: 03-27-2008 10:03 AM

Volume: 40 Number: 220