In Brief: August 7

New York Voices comes to Donnell stage

The acappella vocal jazz ensemble New York Voices returns to BGSU with a public concert at 8 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 9) in the Donnell Theatre at the Wolfe Center for the Arts. The performance caps off the group’s participation in this week’s Vocal Jazz Camp.

Entering its 26th year, the group is known for its inspired arrangements, intense vocal blend, close-knit voicing and the chemistry between members Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian and Lauren Kinhan. The Los Angeles Times lauded “the Voices’ capacity to bring a contemporary quality to classic material without sacrificing the essence of either.”

Tickets are $15 general admission.

Buy tickets online.

University Choral Society to hold open auditions

The College of Musical Arts will hold open auditions for the 2014-15 season of the University Choral Society. The group is made up of community members from the Greater Bowling Green area and BGSU students.

The chorus rehearses from 7:30-9:30 on Tuesday evenings at the college; the first rehearsal is scheduled for Sept. 2.

Highlights of the season will include performances of Handel’s “Messiah,” Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms,” and Karl Jenkins’s “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace.”

The ensemble will perform “Messiah” with soloists and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra on Dec. 7 as part of the symphony’s regular season at the Toledo Museum of Art.  During the spring semester, the chorus will perform Stravinsky’s landmark work with the BGSU Wind Ensemble.

Also in the spring, the chorus will perform “The Armed Man.” In addition to the UCS, soloists, and instrumental ensemble, the performance of the gripping multi-media work by Welsh composer Jenkins will incorporate a film that “echoes and traces the story as told in the text of the work; the build up to conflict, conflict itself and the aftermath, finally looking forward to a better future.”

Mark Munson, director of choral activities, serves as the director of the University Choral Society. During his tenure at the University he has led the Collegiate Chorale, A Cappella Choir and University Women’s Chorus. He is a past president of the Ohio Choral Directors Association.

For more information or to schedule an audition, call the college at 419-372-2186.         

Faculty share information with Chinese visitors

A delegation from China West Normal University visited BGSU July 31 as part of their tour to see firsthand how U.S. universities organize and manage their programs.

Hosted BGSU’s by International Programs and Partnerships, the guests toured campus, learned about U.S. higher education from Dr. Maureen Wilson, director of the Division of Higher Education and Student Affairs, and heard from Dr. Dale Klopfer, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, about the organization of colleges and departments at BGSU. The group also had a lunchtime discussion of American higher education with Chinese faculty Drs. Kit Chan, chair of mathematics and statistics; Joseph Chao, computer science; Lan Li, Division of Teaching and Learning; Mingsheng Li, finance; Junfeng Shang, mathematics and statistics; and Arthur Yeh, chair of applied statistics and operations research.