Eastern Michigan University's Choir from the School of Music and Dance will be performing their biggest event of the year on Friday, March 11, at the Pease Auditorium.
The event will feature a performance by the EMU Choir, a mixed group of undergraduate and graduate students with music and non-music majors.
With traditions dating back to 1854, the EMU Choir is excited to keep things going this semester. Their last performance was the Holiday Candlelight concert that occurred on Dec. 11.
Brandon Johnson is the director of Choral Activities at Eastern Michigan University. He has been a part of EMU’s School of Music and Dance staff for about eight years.
“This ensemble is the one that tours the most,” Johnson said. “This group will be traveling to Alaska actually later in the semester.”
Johnson said this performance is usually a part of an international tour, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those plans have been halted.
“Typically this was going to be the year for an international tour,“ Johnson said. “Every 3 years we try to travel on an international tour, but of course, the pandemic had some things to say about our travel plans.”
This concert is considered the most important event of the year for the EMU Choir, according to Johnson.
“We call it the ‘Home Tour’ concert because we would just be returning from wherever the concert tour had taken us, so this is the most by far the most sophisticated and complex performance of the EMU Choir for the entire year,” Johnson said.
The program is titled “I Believe in the Sun.” This event will have a mixture of components from different eras, as well as two winning pieces that were chosen from the Choral Composition Competition.
“I would call it a diverse body of choral art music,” Johnson said. “It has a particular focus on underrepresented composers.”
The concert will be held at the Pease Auditorium on Friday, March 11, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The event will be open to the public and free of cost. Those interested in attending and learning more about the Choir can visit the EMU Choir page.
