From Kennesaw State University College of the Arts (all photos courtesy of KSU)

Signature production is the sole fundraising concert for music scholarships

KENNESAW, Ga. (Jan. 25, 2024) ––Kennesaw State University’s Bailey School of Music will present the annual Collage Concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3. The signature production, now in its 18^th year, benefits students by supporting music scholarships.

Interim Dean of the College of the Arts Dr. Harrison Long says, “As the sole fundraising concert for music scholarships, the Collage Concert not only gives patrons a fabulous performance, but also supports our Bailey School of Music students through ticket sales.”

A coordinated effort from faculty, students, and staff within the Bailey School of Music, Collage represents all areas of study, from strings to choral music to opera theater. The evening gives conductors and directors a chance to experiment with music from established and new composers.

Dr. Julia Bullard, Interim Director of the Bailey School of Music, says, “The performance will feature faculty performers and many of our top student ensembles. You will recognize some of the composers featured, and we also hope to introduce you to some new ones.” The structure of the concert—a flowing, musical vignette with no pauses for applause until intermission—makes for a unique and fast-paced performance.

Opening the concert like a racecar at the tracks, joyRIDE by Michael Markowski will be performed by the KSU Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. David Kehler. The composer wrote the piece as a high school senior. He describes the quirky music as “a two-and-a-half-minute concert opener that borrows Beethoven’s infamous melody [Ode to Joy] and dresses it in a tie-dye blazer of rhythm and texture that nod humbly to John Adams’s Short Ride In A Fast Machine.”

Time from young, award-winning composer Jennifer Lucy Cook uses contemporary a cappella techniques and harmonies. It will be performed by the KSU Chamber Singers, conducted by Erika Tazawa. The composer wrote that “Time insists upon eluding us; we can only notice the fact that time has been winking at us all along. This music is a way of winking back.”

Time at the movies is well spent as as the KSU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Nathaniel F. Parker, opens the second half of the concert with John Williams’ Raiders March from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Stay in the movie set of the Peruvian jungle to hear Birds of Paradise by Erik Morales, performed by the KSU Trumpet Ensemble, directed by Dr. Sam Oatts.

Visit Vienna with a scene from Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, performed by the KSU Opera Theater and directed by Cynthia Skelley-Wohlschlager. Filled with lively music and witty dialogue, the operetta is a delightful comedy that captures the essence of 19th-century Vienna’s social life. The KSU Symphony Orchestra will close the evening with Lullaby & Finale, the last two movements from Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite.

Sitting in the audience for the first time and listening to the music he wrote being performed, composer Markowski remarked, “I guess I hadn’t ever really heard my music before from this point of view. This was the very first time I’d ever been invited to simply sit back and enjoy what I had created.”

On Saturday, Feb. 3, sit back and enjoy what has been created at the College Concert. Tickets are $24-30 (students $5) and may be purchased online or by calling 470-578-6650.

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Kennesaw State is a comprehensive university located on two suburban campuses in Kennesaw and Marietta, northwest of metro Atlanta. As the third largest university in Georgia, Kennesaw State has nearly 43,000 students enrolled in over 180 undergraduate, master’s, doctoral degree and certificate programs. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu. For more information on the College of the Arts, please visit ArtsKSU.com.