Index of University Press Releases

April 10, 2008

DWU music department presents concert

Daniel Barnard

MITCHELL – The DWU Music Department will present its final concert of the year at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 18 in the Sherman Center on the DWU campus. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature performances by the Wesleyan University/Community Band under the direction of Brad Berens; the Dakota Wesleyan Choir directed by Daniel Barnard, composer in residence and choral director; and special guests, the Hanson County Community Chorus directed by Liz Soladay.

“Dr. B is a blast to work with and it has been a unique experience to have the opportunity to observe a composer in residence,” said Kari Schnathorst, senior music major from Huron. “I'm excited to be performing such a large original work as well as for the opportunity to be joined by the Hanson County Community Chorus.”

The choir will be performing works by Barnard. In the first portion of the performance, the choir will present the world premiere performance of two movements from an ongoing composition written especially for them, “Dakota Sketches.” These are works that explore the myth and the reality of what it means to be a Dakotan. The movements to be performed are based on texts about farming in the homestead and dustbowl eras.

Following that work, the choir will join forces with the Hanson County Community Chorus to present the second complete performance of a major choral work by Barnard, “Requiem for a Sailor.”

This unique ten-movement work juxtaposes the traditional Latin requiem texts with first-person narrative accounts of shipwreck survivors from the tall ship era. The lyrics tell a story of a single ill-fated voyage, though they are derived from eight different accounts. The nautical accounts are intended to sound like sea chanties and are paired with the traditional Latin texts in a variety of different ways. The work is scored for piano, flute, cello and percussion, and will feature members of the South Dakota Symphony playing the instrumental parts. There are also four vocal solos to be sung by members of the Dakota Wesleyan Choir and guest artists from South Dakota State University.

“Dan is really a good director. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to music,” said Tanner LaValliere, freshman business administration major from Sioux Falls. “His piece is difficult, but it is a great challenge for our group and helps us further our knowledge of music.”

The creation of “Requiem for a Sailor” was supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Even before its world premiere last April, three movements of the work were chosen in a national competition to be recorded by the Saint Paul, Minn.-based Vocal Essence Choir under the direction of Philip Brunelle.

For more information, contact Barnard at dabarnar@dwu.edu or 995-2658.