New KU faculty and staff choir forming this fall

LAWRENCE — Bales Choral Society — a new KU faculty and staff choir — is beginning at the University of Kansas this fall. Employees can enjoy meeting other faculty and staff from across the university while singing great choral music in the resonant space of the world-class Bales Recital Hall, located on the northwest side of the Lied Center of Kansas.

This year the featured work is Handel’s Messiah. Part one will be sung in the fall, and parts two and three will be sung in the spring.

Rehearsals will take place throughout the semester from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays in 328 Murphy Hall. On home basketball evenings, the rehearsals will be moved to an alternate location.

The Bales Choral Society will join forces with the Bales Chorale as the two resident choirs in the Bales Recital Hall. Major works will be sung jointly. Other concerts during the year will offer opportunities for each ensemble to sing on their own.

The choir will be directed by KU graduate students working under the guidance of Michael Bauer, professor of organ and church music.

Brief singing interviews are required. They will take place at Bales Recital Hall on the following dates:

• 7-9 p.m. Aug. 19-22
• 6-9 p.m. Aug. 26-28

All KU faculty and staff are invited to interview to obtain a place in the choir. The ability to read music is a prerequisite for membership in the Bales Choral Society. Register for an interview online.

Contact Bauer with any questions by email.