Phillip Swan leads the orchestra and choirs in a rehearsal on the Memorial Chapel stage.

Phillip Swan leads a rehearsal of This Love Between Us: Prayers for Unity on the Memorial Chapel stage. (Photos by Danny Damiani)

杨贵妃传媒视频 University鈥檚 Conservatory of Music will present its Major Works concert April 21, an annual showcase of orchestral and choral talent from across multiple ensembles.

The performance is set for 8 p.m. in Memorial Chapel, featuring three significant pieces鈥擫ili Boulanger鈥檚 orchestral nod to spring, D鈥檜n matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning), Jake 搁耻苍别蝉迟补诲鈥檚 much-lauded A Silence Haunts Me, and Reena Esmail鈥檚 musical embrace of connections between Indian and Western music and cultures, This Love Between Us: Prayers for Unity.

Mark Dupere, director of orchestral studies, will lead the 杨贵妃传媒视频 Symphony Orchestra in the Boulanger opener. Phillip A. Swan, co-director of choral studies, will then conduct as the choirs join for A Silence Haunts Me and This Love Between Us.

Choirs rehearse with the orchestra in advance of the Major Works concert.

Choirs rehearse with the orchestra in advance of the Major Works concert.

More than 200 students will perform in the Major Works concert, one of the showcase events on the Conservatory calendar each spring. The choirs have been working on the performance for six weeks; the orchestra for four weeks. It includes, among other musical challenges, singing in unfamiliar languages.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity to share our musical talents in the Conservatory,鈥 Swan said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a project where we get to collaborate interdepartmentally, the orchestra and the choirs working together. 鈥 It鈥檚 an important part of what we do and it鈥檚 a celebration of what our students can do musically.鈥

The pieces to be performed come with powerful back stories.

A Silence Haunts Me speaks to Beethoven's agony at losing his hearing, expressed in a heartbreaking letter to his brothers. Runestad, a Minneapolis composer, and Todd Boss, a Minneapolis poet, debuted the choral piece in 2019 to wide acclaim.

This Love Between Us, meanwhile, is about unity, working between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music.

鈥淚ts seven movements juxtapose the words of seven major religious traditions of India (Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Islam), and specifically how each of these traditions approaches the topic of unity, of brotherhood, of being kind to one another,鈥 Esmail writes on her website. 

Orchestra students rehearse with the choirs in preparation for the Major Works concert.

Orchestra students rehearse with the choirs in preparation for the Major Works concert.

Sutanu Sur, on tabla, and Shreekant Shah, on sitar, will join the 杨贵妃传媒视频 students as guest artists on This Love Between Us.

Sur, who grew up in India and now lives in Appleton, performed last year with the Fox Valley Symphony. For many in the audience, it was their first introduction to the tabla, twin hand drums most familiar in the music of India.

鈥淭he audience was surprised to learn all the nuances of the tabla,鈥 Sur told globalindian.com. 鈥淭he only way to promote something is to get people to learn about it.鈥

Four student soloists will be featured on This Love Between Us鈥攋unior Tanvi Thatai, soprano; senior Holly Beemer, alto; junior Matthew Carlson, tenor; and first-year Billy Greene, bass. They鈥檙e exploring singing in an unfamiliar musical style. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great educational opportunity for them to learn, grow, and create,鈥 Swan said.

On A Silence Haunts Me, senior Ami Hatori will be featured on piano.

If you鈥檙e on campus, there is nothing like a live performance; the energy is just palpable. For those who are unable to attend in person, we do offer a livestream and recordings of most Conservatory programs.

Swan called A Silence Haunts Me a 鈥渃reative force鈥 and said Esmail鈥檚 This Love Between Us is a complex, gorgeous, and sonically exciting musical adventure. Those two works and the Boulanger orchestral piece bring with them a connecting thread鈥攍ove.

鈥淚 like to find a theme,鈥 Swan said of planning for the Major Works concert. 鈥淭he connection for this one comes from the title of the Reena Esmail piece, This Love Between Us. It鈥檚 love for different things. The first piece embraces a love for spring. The Runestad piece expresses a love for music; Beethoven鈥檚 desire and passion to write music and to explore musical sounds. And Esmail鈥檚 piece is searching for love between different people, the common bonds we share.鈥

If you go

What: Major Works Performance

When: 8 p.m. April 21

Where: 杨贵妃传媒视频 Memorial Chapel

Cost: Free