Holiday Concert Benefits Choir Trip to Russia

The Fairmont State University-Community Chorus and Orchestra concert planned for Sunday, Dec. 14, will feature the gift of music. Those attending will also be giving a gift - funds needed for a spring choir trip to Russia.

At 3 p.m. in Colebank Hall, the FSU-Community Chorus and Orchestra will offer works by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel. The group, comprised of community volunteers, college faculty and the student Collegiate Singers, organizes periodically to perform masterworks with symphony orchestras and guest soloists. Conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Poland, Director of Choral Activities at FSU, the concert will feature Bach's cantata "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (BWV 140) and Part One of Handel's oratorio "Messiah." The program will feature four guest soloists: Dr. Nicholas Perna, William D. Hostutler, Lily Williams and Rebecca Pitcher.

Tickets will be available at the door for $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children under 12. Proceeds from the concert will benefit a tour to Russia by the Collegiate Singers.

In May 2009, the Collegiate Singers will perform at the Korolev Institute of Management, Economics and Sociology outside of Moscow and at the Tartar Institute for the Promotion of Business in Kazan, Tartarstan, about 500 miles east of Moscow. Discussions are under way for a third concert in the Moscow area. 

FSU and Pierpont Community & Technical College students participated in an audition process to be selected to participate. Students selected to make the trip to Russia are the following: Jessica Andrews, Keyser; Hilary Barlow, Kingwood; Shannon Bramblett, Lake Floyd; Jessica Crawford, Fairmont; James Creel, Burton; Stephanie Davis, Ravenswood; Aaron Deese, Mannington; Kelly Dunigan, Fairmont; Megan Dunigan, Fairmont; Anthony Errigo; Staten Island, N.Y.; Katelyn Glover, Ravenswood; Roger Harper, Lost Creek; Gregory Hayhurst, Fairview; Ian Hendershot, Morgantown; Aaron Hostutler, Hundred; Elizabeth Huff, Charles Town; Jamie Joseph, Wheeling; Marybeth Joseph, Wheeling; Brandon Lake, Fairmont; Rachel Mead, Shinnston; Anastasia Myers, Newell; Tricia O'Dell, Fairmont; Katherine Prather, Vienna; Amy Prenatt, Fairmont; Bonnie Robertson, Morgantown; Cori Robinson, Independence; Tristram Salisbury, Vienna; Morgan Sanders, Morgantown; Jennifer Stafford, Terra Alta; Christopher Vincent, Fairmont; Amy Willis, Fairmont.

"The trip is an unparalleled opportunity for our students to visit Russia, to present a program of American music and to learn about one of America's important world neighbors," said Peter Lach, Dean of the FSU School of Fine Arts.

Celebrating the centennial of the Collegiate Singers, the Centennial Tour is being organized as a part of exchange agreements which Dr. Christina M. Lavorata, Professor of Education and Associate Provost, and Dr. J. Robert Baker, Professor of English and Director of the Honors Program, negotiated last June with KIMES and TISBI. The Collegiate Singers tour is the first of a series of cultural exchanges between Fairmont State and its sister institutions in Russia. As a part of that exchange, students will stay with host families of college students and participate in a series of seminars offered by faculty at KIMES. Russian students will visit Fairmont State and Pierpont C&TC in June and July 2009.

Contributions for the trip can be sent to Dean Lach at School of Fine Arts, Fairmont State University, 1201 Locust Ave., Fairmont, West Virginia 26554. Please indicate that donations are in support of the Centennial Tour.