About 130 high school choral students from across Southern Illinois will join the Southern Illinois University Concert Choir on Oct. 8 for the world premiere of a new work by Grammy-nominated pianist and producer Keith Javors, SIU News reported.
The day includes two free concerts. High school singers perform at 4 p.m. in Shryock Auditorium as part of the SIU High School Choral Festival, according to SIU News. At 7 p.m., the SIU Concert Choir presents its fall concert, “A Promised Land,” at Exodus Church in Carbondale, where the high school singers join the choir to close the evening with the premiere of Javors’ “It Takes a Village.”
Javors wrote the piece specifically to bring together the SIU Concert Choir and high school singers from throughout the region, SIU News reported. The work was inspired by the outpouring of support from his hometown and community after his niece was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Javors described the piece as being about inclusion, unity, and a coming together of souls and spirits.
The invitational festival brings together students from eight area high schools, who will rehearse on campus from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. before the afternoon concert, according to SIU News. The evening concert, led by Emerson Eads, director of choral studies, explores 250 years of American vocal and choral music, moving from shape-note and Sacred Harp traditions to jazz and Black American musical traditions. Eads said the premiere embodies the idea that American music has always been shaped by voices meeting and finding strength in singing together.
For more information, visit news.siu.edu.