FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 4, 2005

CONTACT: Aimee Beckmann-Collier at (515) 271-2841, aimee.beckmann-collier@drake.edu
Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE CHORAL, ORCHESTRAL PRODUCTION PLEADS FOR PEACE

Drake University’s four choruses and a student-faculty orchestra will perform two pieces by the great 20th-century English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 13 at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, 221 Walnut St.

A 60-member orchestra and 250 singers – including Drake faculty and two student soloists – will present “Serenade to Music,” set to the words of Act 5 of William Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” and “Dona nobis pacem,” Vaughan Williams’ passionate plea for peace.

The performance will kick off an interdisciplinary learning experience for Drake students in the College of Arts and Sciences. History, culture and society, music and theater classes will all discuss ideas of cultural identity, nationalism, patriotism and the arts’ response to war.

Vaughan Williams, at the age of 42, volunteered to be an ambulance driver in France during World War I. He set to music texts by famed authors and political figures relating to war and peace, including poems by Walt Whitman and British politician John Bright’s speech “Angel of Death,” given during the Crimean War. He also composed music for selections from the Old and New Testaments.

Eric Saylor, Drake assistant professor of music history, will discuss these two pieces and their composer at the James Cox Memorial Lecture preceding the performance at 2 p.m. in the east lobby of the Civic Center. Drake Phi Mu Epsilon, a professional music fraternity, sponsors the lecture series.

Tickets are available at the Drake Fine Arts Box Office by calling (515) 271-2841, the Civic Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster location and charge-by-phone at (515) 243-1888. Tickets are $15 for non-students, $7 for those with IDs from any K-12 school or college.

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