Tickets on Sale for Southeastern Chorale Concerts with Grammy Honorees

by SOUTHEASTERN PUBLIC INFORMATION
April 4, 2008

DURANT, Okla. ­ Tickets remain on sale for the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Chorale concerts on April 17 and 18. The Chorale will play host to two Grammy Award honorees, Craig Hella Johnson, conductor for the Grammy nominated choral ensemble Conspirare, and Cynthia Clawson, Grammy Award winning vocalist, and five-time Dove Award winner.

The concerts will be held in the SOSU Fine Arts Recital Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for this event are $15 for adults, and $5 for students. Seating is limited, so early purchase is recommended.

The Southeastern Chorale has recently been featured as a performance group at the Oklahoma State Music Educator¹s annual convention, and as a performer at the National Endowment for the Arts Choral Masterpieces Symposium "Crossing the Divide" in Austin, Texas. This ensemble has performed in more tha 70 high schools, and been featured in master classes with some of the top names in choral music. Stacy Weger serves as conductor for this ensemble.

In addition to serving as conductor and artistic director for Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson is also a songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist and singer. He has continued to explore the relationship and interconnectedness of various musical styles and to play at the boundary between classical and popular music and between sacred and secular music. He is partnering with the Southeastern Chorale in creating such a collage concert for this event. Music will range from sacred music to popular music to contemporary choral works. Craig has most recently been in residency at St. Olaf College and Westminster Choir College.

Craig will be joined by Cynthia Clawson, one of the great performers of sacred music, for this event. Cynthia Clawson has been singing for more than four decades. Called "The most awesome voice in gospel music" by Billboard Magazine, she has received a GRAMMY and five Dove Awards for her work. Her rendition of Softly and Tenderly set the evocative tone for the soundtrack of the Academy Award winning movie The Trip to Bountiful. In 1998, she recorded a cast album of gospel songs for a revival of the musical Smoke on the Mountain, which opened at the Lambs Theatre in New York City.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Southeastern Oklahoma State Department of Fine Arts at 745-2088.