Bemidji State University kicks off its 2014-15 performance season on Oct. 19 with its traditional Homecoming weekend event, the Carl O. Thompson Memorial Concert.
The concert will begin at 3 p.m. in the Thompson Recital Hall of Bemidji State’s Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens. BSU students are admitted free with a valid ID.
The concert features two primary ensembles of the choral and instrumental areas: The Bemidji Choir and Chamber Singers, under the instruction of Dr. P. Bradley Logan, professor of music; the Wind Ensemble, under Scott Guidry, assistant professor of music; and the Blue Ice Jazz ensemble, directed by Dr. Del Lyren, professor of music.
In addition to featured performances by BSU’s major ensembles, the concert includes student performances by the winners of this year’s concert-namesake scholarships.
This year’s winners are Josh May, a junior music and liberal arts major from Maple Grove, Minn., and Lorrisa Skalsky, a senior music education major from Thief River Falls, Minn. May will perform a selection with BSU’s Blue Ice jazz ensemble and play trumpet, and Skalsky will perform a vocal solo.
The Bemidji Choir will perform a variety of pieces including “Amor De Me Alma” by Z. Randall Stroope, “Tomorrow Shall; Be My Dancing Day” by Philip Stopford, “Incline Your Ear and Come Unto Me” by Edwin Fissinger, and “Song of Moses” by John Ness Beck. The Bemidji Chamber Singers will present a pair of madrigals by Renaissance composers Thomas Greaves and William Byrd as well as two 20th Century madrigal pieces by American composers William Hawley and Halsey Stevens.
The Bemidji Choir and Chamber Singers are both directed by Logan.
Proceeds from the Carl O. Thompson Memorial Concert fund a pair of $1,400 scholarships in Thompson’s name to outstanding music students at BSU who excel in the classroom and as performers. For many years, Thompson was synonymous with choral music in the northern Minnesota region. He came to Bemidji State in 1937 as a vocal music instructor and eventually founded the A Capella Choir, the Bemidji Civic Oratorio Society and the Lutheran Campus Center. For 20 years, he lectured throughout the United States each summer with the Paul Christiansen Choral Schools and directed numerous high school music clinics and festivals. He was a past president of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, spent 25 years as director of the First Lutheran Church Choir and spent many years as chair of BSU’s music department.
Thompson is remembered for establishing Bemidji State as a leader in providing quality education and in cultural contributions to the region. The scholarship and concert that bear his name rewards a new generation of students who reflect his concern for excellence and commitment.
Contact
• Laura Holm, BSU Department of Music; (218) 755-2915