The Castle Singers from Wartburg College will perform the Kansas City-area premiere of “Jazz Mass” by Wichita composer Craig Curry Saturday, Nov. 10.
The vocal jazz ensemble, directed by Dr. Jane Andrews, professor of music, will sing the new work in a 7:30 p.m. concert at First Lutheran Church, 6400 State Line Rd., Mission Hills, Kan. Admission is free. A free will offering accepted.
The Castle Singers also will provide music for the church’s 10:30 a.m. worship service Sunday, Nov. 11.
Commissioned in July 2011 through the college’s Ruth Weidler-Drape Music Fund, the work presents each section of the Lutheran liturgy in a different jazz style.
Andrews, who received her doctorate at the University of Missouri Kansas City, is excited about the “Jazz Mass,” which she predicts will join the body of standard choral works along with Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.”
“Well crafted and true to the jazz style, the ‘Jazz Mass’ presents the ‘Kyrie’ in a swing style; the ‘Gloria’ as a samba; the ‘Credo’ as a cha-cha; the ‘Sanctus’ as a jazz waltz and the ‘Agnus Dei’ in a blues style. All the jazz elements are present, including improvisation,” Andrews said.
The Castle Singers presented the mass at churches throughout Europe during their 2012 May Term tour, receiving a rousing reception at St. Nikolai Kirche in Leipzig, Germany, where Johann Sebastian Bach once worked. The group will perform the work across the United States during this academic year.
“It is so cool,” said Jacob Martin, a Castle Singers sophomore from Kansas City. “It combines jazz with sacred music, which traditionally does not happen. It brings our style to an entirely different audience.”}
The Castle Singers also will perform such standards as “April in Paris,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Birdland,” “In the Bleak Midwinter,” “Route 66,” and “Shout to the Lord.” Solos will include “Cry Me a River,” “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “Moon River.”
During its mid-November “run out,” the Castle Singers also will sing at Clarke High School in Osceola at 11:15 a.m. and 1 p.m., Friday, Nov. 9.
In addition, they will offer a vocal jazz improvisation workshop — similar to ones they have done at venues from Brazil to the United Arab Emirates — at 1:30 p.m.
“This enables participants to actually experience vocal improvisation or ‘scatting,’” Andrews said.
Wartburg is a four-year, selective liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The college enrolls 1,747 students from 29 U.S. states and 53 countries.