Instead of entertaining alumni with his washboard this weekend, Penn State President Graham Spanier will concede the performing spotlight to more than 100 student musicians.
Spanier will host the second-annual President's Concert 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The concert, presented by the Penn State School of Music and the Penn State Alumni Association, will feature two choral groups -- Essence of Joy and the Penn State Chamber Singers -- and four instrumental ensembles.
The storied location of this year's President's Concert makes the event especially exciting, Christopher Kiver, director of the Chamber Singers, said.
"It's a great opportunity for us to perform in one of the most familiar concert halls in the United States and it's an exciting way to conclude the year," he said.
The event's purpose is to reach out to Penn State alumni and create visibility for the School of Music with strong administrative support, said School of Music Director Sue Haug.
Before her work at Penn State, Haug was head of the Department of Music at Iowa State University, which held similar annual concerts in surrounding cities with large concert halls, such as Chicago and Minneapolis.
"It was the same kind of idea, going to the big cities with beautiful halls and concentrations of alumni," she said.
The location of the President's Concert is set to change each year. Haug began the event last year at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh and plans are already being made for next year's concert, tentatively scheduled for Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
Kiver said the Chamber Singers will draw selections from its on-campus concert held earlier this semester.
"These particular pieces are regarded as some of the more significant in choral repertoire," Kiver said.
The choir, which has about 23 members, will perform four pieces during its 10 to 15 minute portion of the concert, including an arrangement of the American folk song "Cindy" and a work by French composer Claude Debussy.
Kiver said he usually chooses to perform pieces from the Renaissance and the 20th century.
"Our repertoire is going to come from those two extremes and it's a nice contrasting program," he said.
Essence of Joy will perform three pieces from its regular repertoire, including "Tribulation Suite" arranged by M. Roger Holland II, "If I Tell God" by Kurt Carr and "Anticipation" by V. Michael McKay.
Anthony Leach, director of the group, said the choir members, who have performed in large concerts such as this in the past, reacted positively to the idea of singing at the Kennedy Center for the President's Concert.
"The singers were very enthusiastic and were very happy to be invited and to take the trip," he said.
Also performing during separate portions of the evening, the small instrumental groups will include a string quartet with a pianist, a graduate student bass quintet, nine woodwind players from the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and a jazz combo group.
Students will arrive in Washington, D.C., Friday afternoon, prepare for the concert, eat dinner, perform and travel back to State College on Saturday, Haug said.
"They'll be working hard, they won't have a lot of time to play," she said. "We wanted to make sure we got people back so they could start studying for their finals."
Collegian staff writer Clare Brennan contributed to this report.
