Essence of Joy

Catalog description

Rehearsal and performance of choral repertoire from the African/American tradition. MUSIC 093 Essence of Joy (3) (GA;US;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Essence of Joy is a highly selective mixed choral ensemble that specializes in repertoire written by African-Americans. The repertoire of the 45-voiced ensemble includes all art, folk, and sacred genres within this large field of study, Essence of Joy has performed at numerous prestigious national and regional meetings of music educators and choral conductors. In addition, the choir tours extensively and has presented performances throughout Pennsylvania, the eastern region, the southern region, and eastern Europe. Membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students. The goal of the ensemble is to provide artistic, meaningful, and successful choral performances of African-American choral music. To achieve this goal, the learning objectives for individual students include attention toward individual vocal development, increased musicianship skill, and the discovery of new means of artistic expression. In addition to these individual objectives, the conductor of the ensemble also teaches directly toward the objectives of ensemble tone, blend, balance, intonation, dynamics, diction, phrasing, etc. Grades are determined by a combination of vocal and musicianship assessments (both written and aural) and attendance at rehearsals and performances.