Castle Singers 2016-17

Castle Singers 2016-17

Kammerstreicher 2016-17

Kammerstreicher 2016-17

Two Wartburg College music ensembles will perform Saturday, April 8, in the Wartburg Chapel.

The show, featuring the Castle Singers and Kammerstreicher, begins at 4 p.m. The concert will be live-streamed at www.wartburg.edu/knightvision.

Selections will include a madrigal for voices and strings penned by Jacob Tews, Wartburg’s Kammerstreicher conductor. The piece is an “energetic and humorous fairy tale sung in nonsensical English, which becomes understandable only when heard.”

“We are thrilled to continue the collaboration between the Kammerstreicher and the Castle Singers that began last year,” said Nicki Toliver, Castle Singers conductor.

The Castle Singers program includes Gerald Finzi’s “My Spirit Sang All Day” and a collection of folk songs featuring “Rise Up, O Men of God” by Kenneth Jennings and “Softly and Tenderly” by René Clausen as well as a John Lennon and Paul McCartney set highlighting “In My Life,” “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby.” The concert will conclude with U2’s “Without You” and The Manhattan Transfer’s “Operator.”

On this tour, Kammerstreicher will be represented by a quintet that will perform Percy Fletcher’s “Folk Tune and Fiddle Dance,” Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango” and a Hungarian dance by Johannes Brahms.

“I am continually amazed by the artistry of the musicians involved in the ensembles and encouraged by their fun-loving, joyful personalities,” Tews said.

The Wartburg College Castle Singers has been hailed as a model of musicianship since its inception in 1950. This chamber ensemble continues to prepare a variety of repertoire from Byrd to The Beatles and beyond.

Kammerstreicher, the college’s chamber string orchestra, was formed in 2014. Repertoire for the group includes Baroque and classical works, standard string orchestra pieces and arrangements of songs by the Beatles and Radiohead. Kammerstreicher even branches into the realm of improvisation, exploring jazz and bluegrass alongside contemporary classical improvisations.