‘Voices of Spring’ Concert at TAMIU May 3

“Voices of Spring”—a concert that will celebrate the season in word and song—will be held at Texas A&M International University’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall on Thursday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is free and open to the public.

“Though I realize that spring means rising temperatures here in South Texas,” grinned Brendan Townsend, assistant professor and conductor of the TAMIU Philharmonic Chorale, “other parts of the world celebrate spring as a time of rebirth and celebration and that’s what this concert celebrates.”

The concert will have a very informal atmosphere with performers sitting together on stage in a semi-circle and being “invited” by the master of ceremonies to share their talents in word or song.

Poets from Voz, a writers workshop, will present original poetry related to the theme of spring, renewal and rebirth, while more traditional published poetry from Wordsworth to Emerson will be read by others.

The TAMIU Philharmonic Chorale, fresh from their highly successful performance of the Liebermann 2nd Symphony with the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, will sing five songs with differing themes too—love, praise and daffodils!

Joining the Chorale and the poets will be TAMIU voice students Jessica Cárdenas, Erica Salinas, Rogelio Salazar, Joseph Holland and Austin Wright who will sing such varied songs as “Tu lo sai” by Torelli and “Old Man River” to duets from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.

Legendary Nuevo Laredo pianist Sergio Peña will join tenor Alejandro Treviño to bring to life some wonderful Spanish love songs, while Azeneth González will sing some of Manuel Ponce’s glorious songs.

“TAMIU has many wonderful concerts each semester, but this is slightly different,” according to Townsend, “The atmosphere is reminiscent of a by-gone era, where people might sit around the parlor and get called upon to sing or recite -- and that is what we are bringing to the stage here.”

For more information, contact Townsend at 326.3039 or btownsend@tamiu.edu

University office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu