SAI Composers' Showcase Planned

Fairmont State's Music honorary, Sigma Alpha Iota, will present a concert of music by World War II-era composers. The performance will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in Room 229 of Wallman Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Compositions include "Moonlight Becomes You" from the film "Road to Morocco" (Johnny Burke, lyrics; James Van Heusen, music), "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" (music and lyrics by Don Raye and Hughie Prince), "Density 21.5" (Edgar Varese), "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific" (Rogers & Hammerstein), "Canzone" (Samuel Barber), "Blues in the Night" (Johnny Mercer, lyrics; Harold Arlen, music) and others.

Participants include FS seniors Amy N. Reed (Parkersburg), Marcia Knoll (Fairmont) and Tiffani Davis (Fairmont); juniors Leigh Anne Bolyard (Fairmont), Elizabeth Unger (Berkeley Springs), Brittany Parks (Lewis County), Levon Pritt (Elkins) and sophomore Angelle Raines (Hundred).

This concert is held in conjunction with the FS campus community's participation in a nationwide effort to preserve the stories of World War II veterans. Dr. Nancy McClure, Director of the FS Foundation Center for Teaching Excellence, is spearheading the campus efforts. She says that anyone with names of area veterans who would be willing to be interviewed or those who would be willing to help collect stories should contact her.

The WW II Veterans' History Project collects stories from veterans and civilians who served during the war. Through oral interviews, war-time correspondence and visual materials such as scrapbooks, these individuals share memories of their experiences that will be recorded in the Library of Congress Archives. Among the questions asked of veterans is, "Have you any fond remembrances of songs or pieces of music from the war?" This concert is a way to pay homage to the composers and to the veterans.

Music students will accept donations of food and clothing for the Union Mission at the time of the concert. For information about the concert, call Dr. Mary Lynne Bennett at (304) 367-4179. For information about the Veterans Project, call Dr. Nancy McClure at (304) 367-4508.