KU Collegium Musicum to present spring concert Apr. 26

The University of Kansas Collegium Musicum will present its Spring Concert at First Presbyterian Church, 2415 Clinton Parkway, on Sunday, April 26 at 7:30 PM. The concert is free and open to the public.

The Vocal Collegium Musicum, directed by James Davidson, DMA candidiate in choral conducting, specializes in singing music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Instrumental Collegium Musicum, directed by Paul Laird, professor of musicology, plays music from the same periods, primarily on instruments like those in use during the time. The choir will present two motets by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525/6-1594), a song by Claude Le Jeune (1528/30-1600), an anthem by Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623), and excerpts from the famous motet Jesu, meine Freude by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). The Instrumental Collegium Musicum will feature a sonata and cantata by Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704), a cloistered nun in Novara, Italy who was an outstanding composer of both vocal and instrumental music. Her sonatas appear to be the first published by a woman. Leonarda’s solo cantata will be sung by Lisa Mullinger, a PhD student in musicology. The instrumental program will be filled out by canzonas and suites by talented—if relatively unknown—composers, and a bassoon sonata by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) played by Nina Scheibe, an undergraduate senior in bassoon performance who has played with the ensemble for three years.

For more information, please contact Paul Laird at plaird@ku.edu.