GW University Singers

11/08/2023

Henry is back for another semester of music with GW's University Singers! Although little is known about what the semester will hold (the BlackBoard is not even open yet) for the choir, there is a bit of information that's ready to be shared.

First, U-Singers will continue to be directed by the amazing Dr. Freeman and assisted by our accompanist Professor Kempskie. They have worked great together so far and I am looking forward to working with both of them for another semester.

Second, U-Singers has an official website! The website, which houses contact information, performance details, information on how to join, and much more, is the one-stop-shop for anyone's U-Singers needs.

The website can be found by clicking this link: https://gwusingers.weebly.com/

Please note that this website will not serve as a replacement for this portion of my website. I will continue to frequently update this page with all the newest U-Singers information. Anything from repertoire to concert recordings can only be found here, so be sure to check this page often for everything U-Singers.

Henry was thrilled to be involved with U-Singers for another semester of music making. This past semester, Dr. Freeman (also referred to as Dr. F among the students) proved to be a skilled director who truly knew how to connect with college students. The growth U-singers experienced from the beginning of the year to the end of the year was nothing short of remarkable

Professor Kempskie and Dr. Freeman were the ultimate choir director dream team and did a terrific job which translated to an amazing final concert. The music was amazing, the audience was large, and the directing (and piano playing) was superb.

The concert, held on December 2nd at 3:00 PM in the FLAGG Building, included the following repertoire:

Bright Morning Stars by the Wailin' Jenny's
Cantata BWV 1, Wie Schoen Leuchtet, final chorale by JS Bach
Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton, arr. Craig Hella Johnson
Come Sunday by Duke Ellington, arr. Alice Parker
Floating Moon by Wei-Pin Chen/arr. Eric Liu
Hymn to the Sun by Lili Boulanger
An die Sonne, D.439 by Franz Schubert
Glow by Eric Whitacre
This Little Light of Mine, Traditional Spiritual, Arr. Moses Hogan
Faith is the Bird by Elizabeth Alexander (b. 1962) Text by Rabindranath Tagore

If you did not have a chance to see the concert live, do not worry. The entire concert has been recorded and can be found below.

Thank you for listening and enjoy the music!

BIG NEWS! First, Henry will once again be taking part in GW's University Singers program for the 2023 fall semester. He is looking forward to singing fun music with his friends (old and new) for another semester. Second, there will be a new director for the upcoming semester of U-Singers. Dr. Erin Freeman will be directing the University Singers and Professor Kempskie will be returning to his position as accompanist. Professor Kempskie did an amazing job last semester, so it is great to know that he will be staying with us. As for Dr. Freeman, we are all excited to welcome her into the U-Singers family and be directed by her for the upcoming semester.

Continue checking back to see when our next concert will be, how the semester is going with Dr. Freeman, and what music we will be singing.

After a short break from choir during his freshman fall semester, Henry was thrilled to be involved in the choral world once again.

He was enrolled in GW's University Singers program and sang with the group throughout the entire Spring 2023 semester. Henry is looking forward to singing more choral music and to spending more time with his friends next semester.

Thank you to everyone who attended the April 29th performance in person or watched live on YouTube! If you were not able to attend the concert, no worries! The entire concert was recorded and is now available on YouTube (linked below). The program is attached on the side if you would like to follow along

Thank you again to those who attended or watched online, I hope you enjoyed the concert! And for those of you about to watch the concert, enjoy!