(Posted October 28, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Juniata Concert Choir will take audience members on a vocal tour of the Caribbean during its fall concert honoring Trinidadian composer Desmond Waithe at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3 in Rosenberger Auditorium in Oller Hall on the Juniata campus.
The concert is free and open to the public.

Waithe also will pause periodically during the concert to talk to the audience about the history of calypso music and how the steel drum music of the Caribbean developed.

The Concert Choir is a 45-voice choral group comprised of Juniata students. Performers must audition to join the group. The choir is conducted by Russell Shelley, Elma Stine Heckler Associate Professor of Music.

Desmond Waithe is a composer/arranger noted for his work with calypso choirs and pan-steel orchestras. He is a member of the Trinidad-Tobago vocal group The Marionettes and writes calypso and folk arrangements for the ensemble. He also conducts and writes arrangements for the Pantastic Steel Orchestra.

The music performed by the concert choir will combine secular and sacred music from the Caribbean region and South America. Most of the selections will be arranged by Waithe, including such pieces as "Rosebud," "Evening Time," "Pan By Storm," "Sparrow, Sparrow" and "Boysie." Selections arranged by others include "Muie Rendera" and "Naranjitay."

Each spring, the choir tours within the United States or in other countries. In past years, the choir has performed at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; Salzburg Cathedral in Austria; Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, Germany; the Cathedral de Notre Dame Chartres in France; and Trinidad.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.