Howard Payne University’s Concert Choir will present their fall concert this Friday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m. in HPU’s Grace Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.
The concert will feature musical settings of 19th-century American poets and authors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. Assisting the choir with background information about each of the poets/authors and the texts will be HPU English majors Austin Smith, a senior from Springtown; Josh Sherman, a senior from North Richland Hills; and Megan Leonard, a senior from Grandview.
The choir will be accompanied by Dr. Allen Reed, professor of music. Additional accompaniments will include a brass quartet and cello. “A Procession Winding Around Me,” a collection of four Whitman texts of the Civil War-period, will be accompanied by Lance Beaumont, assistant professor of music, on guitar. “Paul Revere’s Ride,” one of Longfellow’s most famous texts, will be accompanied by Dr. Rob Tucker, dean of the School of Music and Fine Arts, on horn and HPU alumnus Kris Redus of Baytown on percussion.
The program will also feature the world premiere of “Longfellow’s Carol,” composed by Jonathan Miller, founder of vocal ensemble Chicago a cappella.
The choir is led by Dr. Monte Garrett, associate professor of music. Garrett joined the HPU faculty as director of choral activities in 2001. He earned both the bachelor and master’s degrees in music from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in choral conducting at The University of Texas at Austin. He has done additional study at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth and The Conductor’s Institute at Southwestern University in Georgetown. He has conducted several region/honor choirs. In the summers of 2005 and 2009, he directed the Texas Baptist All-State Youth Choir. Prior to his appointment at HPU, he served as choral director at Cisco Junior College.
