(Posted October 27, 2003)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Juniata College Concert Choir will present its fall concert, titled ?St. Francis and the Gypsies? at 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 2, in Rosenberger Auditorium in Oller Hall on the Juniata College campus.

The concert is free and open to the public.

The choir will perform two sections of adventurous music. In the first half of the program, the group will perform Johannes Brahms? ?Zigeunerlieder,? a choral work that is comprised of 11 Hungarian gypsy songs. The songs, arranged for four-part chorus and piano are ?full of passion and bitterness,? says Russell Shelley, Elma Stine Heckler Associate Professor of Music at Juniata and director of the choir.

The second half of the program will present ?St. Francis in America: A Caribbean Mass,? by Glenn McClure. The mass celebrates Latin American cultures and the spiritual legacy of the medieval saint, Francis of Assisi. Texts written by St. Francis are set in the languages and musical styles of Caribbean nations.

During the Caribbean mass, the choir will be accompanied by a Latin American percussion section, featuring Kelie Cummins, a sophomore at Juniata from Huntingdon.

Concert Choir 2003 recordings on compact disc are on sale after the concert.

The concert choir is comprised of 50 students from Juniata College. Choir members must go through an audition process to join the group.

Each spring, the choir tours within the United States or in other countries. In past years, the choir has performed at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City; The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Salzburg Cathedral in Austria; Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, Germany; the Cathedral de Notre Dame Chartres in France; and Trinidad.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.