Music ensembles teaming with local church choir

Teaming with the Park Church Chancel Choir, the GVSU Symphony Orchestra and University Arts Chorale will present an afternoon of choral and musical excellence during a free concert.

The Great American Voices Series Collaboration Concert will take place Sunday, February 21, at 3 p.m. at Park Church (101 E Park Plaza NE, Grand Rapids).

After the program opens with the GVSU Symphony Orchestra performing a Mozart overture, the Park Chancel Choir will join the orchestra to perform "Tu Deum" by Bruckner, which will be conducted by Patrick Coyle, minister of music at Park Church.

Following a freewill offering to benefit string scholarships at Grand Valley, Henry Duitman, GVSU Symphony Orchestra director, will conduct the University Arts Chorale and orchestra in a performance of Fauré's "Requiem." Ellen Pool, director of choral ensembles at Grand Valley, will conduct the combined choirs with harp accompaniment on two of John Rutter's arrangements of folk hymns.

The concert will conclude with Duitman conducting the full orchestra and combined choirs in a grand finale utilizing Vaughan Williams' "O Clap Your Hands," a piece first heard at Queen Elizabeth's coronation more than 50 years ago.

For more information about this performance, contact the Department of Music and Dance at (616) 331-3484 or [email protected].