ESU Holds Collegiate Choral Festival Concert, November 1

Posted by: admin on October 20, 2014, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania will host the Pennsylvania Collegiate Choral Festival Concert at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 1 at Cecilia S. Cohen Recital Hall of East Stroudsburg University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center, Normal and Marguerite streets. Singers from colleges and universities throughout the state will be invited to perform. The concert, hosted by ESU’s Department of Music, is open to the public at no cost.

Peter Bagley, professor emeritus of music at the University of Connecticut, will be the guest conductor for the program, which will feature an eclectic mixture of choral works, including pieces by Fauré, Britten, Martin Shaw, and others.  The concert will also feature several a cappella groups chosen by audition from the participating schools.

A guest conductor and choral clinician for numerous festivals and all-state choirs throughout the country, Bagley is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, and was honored in October 1990 by the Connecticut chapter as Connecticut Choral Educator of the Year.   His professional achievements are recognized in Who’s Who in the East, and Who’s Who Among Black Americans.

Bagley made his Carnegie Hall debut in June, 1997 conducting Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem.  Among many engagements, he recently conducted the M.E.N.C. (National Association for Music Education, formerly known as the Music Educators National Conference) All-Eastern Division Chorus in Pittsburgh, Pa. and launched his international career as choral clinician for various choirs in a 10-city tour of New Zealand.

A former special assistant to the dean of the School of Fine Arts at The University of Connecticut, Bagley received his B.S. in music education at the Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam and his D.M. in choral conducting under Julius Herford at Indiana University.

The Pennsylvania Collegiate Choral Festival, held annually for more than 50 years, provides an artistic and educational experience for students and choral directors as they share ideas and learn new repertoire and techniques.  Participants will arrive at East Stroudsburg University on Thursday, October 30, and spend the next two days working under Bagley’s guidance to prepare for Saturday’s concert.

For more information on the concert, please call the Fine and Performing Arts Events Line at 570-422-3483, or email esuarts@esu.edu.