NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State University Chamber Choir will hold its spring concert on Thursday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall.

Admission is free and open to the public. Those attending are asked to wear a mask, but they are not required. A livestream will be available at capa.nsula.edu/livestream.

Director of Choral Activities Dr. Nicholaus B. Cummins will direct the choir in a program called “Love.”

“The concert was my reaction to all the negativity and anger I have seen and felt since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and political discourse over the past few years,” said Cummins. “Using music to unite and find our similarities and not focus on that which separates us.  My hope is that we can begin to heal and move forward through that which unites us a society, but recognizing that we are all inherently different.”

The program includes “MLK” arranged by Bob Chilcott with soloists Douglas Flores and Landry Allen, “My Prayer” by Richard Burchard with Santiago Uribe-Cardona on cello and Daniel Ley on piano and “O Salutaris Hostia” by Eriks Ešenvalds with soloists Kylie Dornbush and Ella Victoria Aubrey Castro.

The Chamber Choir will also sing Chilcott’s arrangement of “And I Love Her,” “Michelle” arranged by Grayston Ives and two works by Jake Runestad, “Let My Love Be Heard” and “Please Stay” featuring soloist Emily Saldivar and Ley.

The concert will conclude with “I love You/What a Wonderful World” featuring soloists Dornbush, Jaeli Williams, Brooke Jones, Jayvian Bush, Jordan Williams, Beth Olin, Landry Allen, Kat Wilkinson and Saldivar and Ley.

The Northwestern Chamber Choir, founded in 1987, is the flagship choral ensemble at Northwestern State. The Northwestern Chamber Choir is comprised of 34 undergraduates encompassing a variety of different majors throughout the university. The choir frequently collaborates with composers and conductors for projects including “For a Breath of Ecstasy,” commissioned from Michael Trotta and “The Falling Stars” commissioned from Richard Burchard. The Northwestern Chamber Choir was be the featured choir at the 2017 Louisiana Music Educators Association conference and was selected to perform at the 2019 Eighth National Collegiate Choral Conference National Conference in Maryland. Last year, they placed in the top four of the Leonardo da Vinci Choral Competition in Florence, Italy. The Chamber Choir has also placed second in the Laurea Mundi Budapest in Budapest, Hungary and Second and Best Interpretation in the AVE VERUM ICC in Baden, Austria. Cummins and the Northwestern Chamber Choir have been invited to premiere the “Stabat Mater” by composer Richard Burchard in London, England, at the Southwark Cathedral in June 2023.