FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 3, 2006

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE UNIVERISTY CHAMBER CHOIR TOURING ENGLAND

The Drake University Chamber Choir, conducted by Aimee Beckmann-Collier, is touring England from Jan. 3-11, performing in the cathedrals of Salisbury and Ely, at St. John's College Chapel at Cambridge University and at St. James Piccadilly and The Grosvenor Chapel in London.

“American choirs don’t typically have the opportunity to sing in any of the college chapels in Cambridge,” Beckmann-Collier said. “We are fortunate to be able to do so because of our connection with David Hill, the director of music at St. John’s.”
Hill, a friend of Beckmann-Collier, is one of England’s leading musicians. In January 2003 he spent a week in residence at Drake, rehearsing and performing with choral ensembles, giving an organ recital and speaking to music students.

In addition to his responsibilities at Cambridge, Hill conducts the London Bach Choir, founded by renowned composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Drake Chamber Choir will sing choral evensong at St. John’s with Hill serving as organist for that service.

Joining the choir on the tour are John Burney, dean of Drake’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Eric Saylor, Drake’s musicologist, along with a number of supporters of the choral program.

The Chamber Choir, the most select of Drake’s four choral ensembles, performs at least four on-campus concerts each year and is the featured ensemble for the University’s annual Christmas Madrigal Dinners. Students in the ensemble have performed throughout the United States, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, and in Austria, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. They also have been selected to perform on the programs of the American Choral Directors Association’s North Central Division conference.

Photos of the tour and journal entries written by students will be posted each day of the tour on the Drake Web site at www.drake.edu/artsci/Music_Dept/england06/.

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