Adelphian Concert Choir Tour Celebrates the Marriage of Poetry and Music

TACOMA, Wash. – The Adelphian Concert Choir will introduce audiences to some of the most revered marriages of poetry and music—from ancient times to today—as they tour the Pacific Northwest this spring.

University of Puget Sound’s celebrated 42-voice student ensemble will give free public concerts at schools, colleges, and churches in Washington and Oregon, from Friday, March 13 to Saturday, March 28.

“The essence of a song is its poetry,” says Adelphian conductor and director Bruce Browne. “Without poets, singers would have precious little to sing, and choral composers no inspiration for their glorious tones. We will celebrate that marriage with a selection of songs over two millennia.”

Everyone is welcome to the concert series, and no tickets are required. The program will include choral music written by leading composers from France, Russia, Finland, England, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, and America.

Poets whose works are part of the music program include the early Roman writer Gaius Valerius Catullus and the heroic Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, who conspired in art with Salvador Dalí surrealism. Other works include verses by German poet and philosopher Georg Friedrich Daumer, whose religious beliefs rambled from pietism to pantheism to Catholicism, and Russia’s Alexander Pushkin, whose work was the source of many opera stories. Modern-day American poets Michael Dennis Browne and Hila Plitmann also will have their poems portrayed in musical terms.

The Adelphian Concert Choir includes some of the University of Puget Sound’s most talented School of Music student vocalists, many of whom anticipate music careers. At some concerts, the Adelphians will join local high school and college choirs as special guests.

The concert tour schedule is as follows:

Friday, March 13, 7 p.m. (with Pierce College Choir)
Pierce College
1601 39th Ave SE
Puyallup, WA

Saturday, March 14, 6 p.m. (with Grant High School Choir)
Rose City Park United Methodist Church
5830 NE Alameda St.
Portland, OR

Sunday, March 15, 6 p.m. (with Summit High School Choir)
Summit High School
2855 Northwest Clearwater Drive
Bend, OR

Monday, March 16, 6:30 p.m. (with Evergreen High School Choirs)
Evergreen High School
14300 Northeast 18th St.
Vancouver, WA

Saturday, March 28, 2 p.m. (home concert)
Kilworth Memorial
University of Puget Sound
3410 N. 18th St.
Tacoma, WA

Founded in 1932, the Adelphian Concert Choir has attracted accolades from audiences in Canada, Europe, and West Coast. Bruce Browne is an emeritus professor of choral studies and voice at Portland State University and conductor laureate of the Portland Symphonic Choir. He founded the professional choir Choral Cross Ties and co-founded Male Ensemble Northwest.

Choirs under Browne's direction have performed at five American Choral Directors Association national conventions, four National Association for Music Education conventions, and numerous regional and state conventions. He has been a guest director and clinician in several states and countries, including Spain, Greece, Canada, and England.

University of Puget Sound School of Music is the only national liberal arts college in the Northwest to be accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and offer a full symphony orchestra, concert band, jazz band, and comprehensive choral program. The school offers three professional degrees for undergraduates.

Press photos of the Adelphian Concert Choir can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos
Photos on page: Top right: Adelphian Concert Choir; Above left: Conductor Bruce Browne

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