UA Wind Ensemble and Collegiate Chorale Premiere New Edition

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Wind Ensemble and Collegiate Chorale in rehearsal for the Grainger work.

The University of Arkansas Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Christopher Knighten, will join forces with the Collegiate Chorale, under the direction of Stephen Caldwell for a world premiere edition of Percy Grainger's "The Lads of Wamphray Ballad." It will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 23, in the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

This piece is edited and arranged by Department of Music professor Chalon Ragsdale, a noted scholar on Grainger's life and music. The work, originally written for a unique, non-standard instrumentation and men's chorus, was discovered by Ragsdale on a research trip to the Grainger Museum in Melbourne, Australia, in 2012. Ragsdale's new edition adapts the instrumentation to modern wind band standards and expands the choral writing to include women's voices.

"The Lads of Wamphray Ballad" will also be performed by the U of A's Schola Cantorum, with piano accompaniment, conducted by Stephen Caldwell, on their spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in the Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

Tickets are now available for both events: $10 general admission; $5 students/faculty/staff. Visit faulkner.uark.edu for more information and to purchase tickets in advance.