{"id":111346,"date":"2026-10-14T13:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T13:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=111346"},"modified":"2026-10-16T16:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T16:18:36","slug":"honoring-jazz-legends-singing-hallelujah-chorus-part-of-uri-fall-concert-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/10\/honoring-jazz-legends-singing-hallelujah-chorus-part-of-uri-fall-concert-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring jazz legends, singing \u2018Hallelujah Chorus\u2019 part of URI fall concert schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 14, 2026 \u2013 Centennial year celebrations of two influential jazz artists will be among the many faculty-student performances, fusions, festivals and recitals that the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Department of Music<\/a> will publicly offer this fall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The URI Big Band and the In the Pocket Jazz Choir\u2014directed by Lecturer of Amplified Voice Hannah Martin<\/a> and Artist\/Teacher in Jazz Piano Andrew Wilcox<\/a>\u2014will perform pieces by legendary trumpeter Miles Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane in honor of their respective 100th<\/sup> birthdays this year on Oct. 25 at 5 p.m.<\/strong> in the URI Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, 105 Upper College Road, on the Kingston Campus. Martin said this show will push the boundaries for both the band and choir by adding lyrics and vocals to pieces that are traditionally instrumentals.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"URI
The URI Concert Choir will take the stage for a performance on Nov. 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While the Big Band and Jazz Choir will each have their own separate performances that evening, the two groups will also perform a song together with a horn section that can be imitated by the singers. The show will also feature original lyrics sung by the choir that were added to traditional instrumental solos, Martin said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cool way to introduce vocalists to more instrumental sounds and repertoires instead of just taking songs that have always been for singers,\u201d Martin said. \u201cThis helps with our ear training and pushes our students to feel comfortable about improvising by adding instrumental influences into their singing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Symphony
Both the URI Symphony Orchestra and the University Chorus will have a joint performance on Nov. 18.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wilcox hopes audiences attending the shows will appreciate and celebrate the musical depth from both Davis and Coltrane that will be showcased by University students throughout the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMiles Davis and John Coltraine pushed the boundaries of how jazz should sound, everything from jazz standards that people will know to their own material they developed throughout their careers,\u201d Wilcox said. \u201cOur goal with the Big Band and Jazz Choir is to honor that history and musical significance on our stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four jazz combos performances will also be held Oct. 20 and 27, and Dec. 8 and 10<\/strong> at the URI Fine Arts Center\u2019s Concert Hall, each show starting at 7:30 p.m. Wilcox said the combos will be an eclectic mix of classical and Latin jazz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strike up the bands<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The URI Guitar and Mandolin Festival<\/a>, a music staple now in its 11th<\/sup> year, will run Oct. 18-25<\/strong>. The weeklong music celebration, led by URI Associate Teaching Professor and Instructor of Classical Guitar Adam Levin<\/a>, will bring together world-renowned string artists performing a variety of genres for the local community, as well as offer educational and competitive programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The URI Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, led by URI Director of Bands Brian Cardany<\/a>, will have two shows this fall at the Fine Arts Center, one on Oct. 18 <\/strong>and the other on Nov. 22<\/strong>, both at 3 p.m. This year\u2019s showcase of the two bands will offer audiences a mix of history and energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two pieces by composer Brian Balmages will be among the standards performed by the Concert Band this year, one being \u201cSparks!\u201d\u2014themed around imagination and innovation\u2014and \u201cAmong the Clouds,\u201d transporting audiences into a dreamlike state. The Wind Ensemble, Cardany says, will perform wind-band pieces dating back centuries. The setlist will include \u201cOverture for Winds,\u201d an 1826 score by Felix Mendelssohn and \u201cSonata pian e forte\u201d by renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrielli, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWind music has been around for centuries, but didn\u2019t become an artform until within the last 100 years. We hope the audiences will gain an appreciation of the historical roots of wind music with this year\u2019s selections,\u201d Cardany said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The community American Band, also conducted by Cardany and one of the country\u2019s oldest continuously active bands, will delight audiences with a full, 35-minute transcription of Modest Mussorgsky\u2019s \u201cPictures at an Exhibition\u201d on Nov. 1 at 3 p.m.<\/strong> at the Fine Arts Center. The American Band consists of more than 50 adult musicians from Rhode Island and nearby Connecticut and Massachusetts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mix of Inuit proverbs, nighttime and mystery will be among the music selections performed by the URI Concert Choir\u2019s Nov. 19<\/strong> show\u2014start time 7:30 p.m. Professor Mark Conley<\/a>, director of choral performance, will lead the choir consisting of a select group of singers. Some pieces to be sung by the choir include two settings entitled \u201cHallelujah!,\u201d one is the \u201cHallelujah Chorus\u201d from Handel\u2019s Messiah, and another is a setting of Psalm 150 by 19th century German Jewish composer Louis Lewandowski, sung in Hebrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the URI Symphony Orchestra and the University Chorus will have a joint performance on Nov. 18<\/strong> at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center\u2019s Concert Hall. Along with each group performing their respective individual sets, both the orchestra and chorus will jointly collaborate on their respective rendition of Handel\u2019s \u201cHallelujah Chorus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have really enjoyed the collaboration and the opportunity to sing with the full orchestra is especially exciting for the singers,\u201d Chorus Director Elizabeth Woodhouse<\/a> said. \u201cPerforming the \u2018Hallelujah Chorus\u2019 is always thrilling, including for the audience. We hope the audience gets inspired from what they hear on Nov. 18 and it will be a beautiful way to showcase how music brings a community together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University Chorus is composed of 75 students, faculty, staff and community members, who encompass a range of choral singing experience. Woodhouse said the chorus\u2019 first set\u2014\u201cDon\u2019t Be Seen\u201d by Stuart Chapman Hill, \u201cEarth Song\u201d by Frank Ticheli and \u201cWhere the Light Begins\u201d by Susan LaBarr\u2014will center around the \u201cHide and Seek\u201d theme, featuring works by living contemporary composers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chorus will also perform two holiday pieces, one a South African Christmas carol arranged by Victor C. Johnson titled \u201cSizalelwe Indodona (Unto us a child is born)\u201d that will be sung in Zulu. The other is the traditional Hebrew dreidel song arranged by Betty Bertaux titled \u201cS\u2019vivon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

URI Director of Orchestral Studies Luis Viquez<\/a> says the orchestra\u2019s set will combine challenging pieces and works by underrepresented composers, which students are looking forward to playing. Along with Leonard Bernstein\u2019s \u201cSymphonic Dances from West Side Story,\u201d the orchestra will also perform Jenni Brandon\u2019s \u201cThe Weaver\u201d\u2014conducted by URI graduate student Victor Sanchez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viquez is also excited to bring to the stage Beethoven\u2019s \u201cSymphony No. 1,\u201d which he has taught as a conducting professor for more than 15 years but never conducted in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is for our students to not only appreciate the standard repertoire that has been written for orchestra, but also understand the importance of promoting music by women and other underrepresented composers,\u201d Viquez said. \u201cWe\u2019ve made a very conscious effort here in the music department to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets for concerts can be purchased through\u00a0Eventbrite<\/a>\u00a0or one hour prior to performance at the Box Office. General Admission tickets cost $20, students and seniors (60 and older) cost $10 and children 12 and under are free. Events are located in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, unless stated otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see the full list of concerts being offered this semester, please visit the Music Department events page.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 14, 2026 \u2013 Centennial year celebrations of two influential jazz artists will be among the many faculty-student performances, fusions, festivals and recitals that the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Department of Music will publicly offer this fall.  The URI Big Band and the In the Pocket Jazz Choir\u2014directed by Lecturer of Amplified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":111347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,1913,1912],"class_list":["post-111346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-public-engagement","tag-special-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111346"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111466,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111346\/revisions\/111466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}