MUSICIANS TO GATHER APRIL 19-20 AT UNION UNIVERSITY

JACKSON, March 19-- All area musicians are invited to Union University Saturday, April 20, when the University's music alumni chapter sponsors a master class and music workshop series.

Alumni of Union's department of music are encouraged to arrive early for the first meeting of the music alumni chapter, which takes place Friday, April 19, from 6-11 p.m. in the University's Recital Hall (room D-3). Former and present faculty will join music alumni at the celebration.

Saturday's activities begin at 8 a.m. with a complimentary continental breakfast in the halls of Union's department of music.

Participants may choose from six workshop topics, including:

• Masterclass in Conducting, taught by Mark Ring, a 1988 Union graduate. Ring, director of music at First Presbyterian Church, will address areas such as score preparation, gesture, sound, group vocal pedagogy, orchestral/rehearsal techniques, and repertoire expansion. The masterclass meets from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Staging the Musical/Drama taught by Michael Penny. Penny, associate professor of music at Union University, will provide an overview of preparation, a checklist of items for complete a production and techniques used in staging a musical. The cast of Union's Opera Workshop, The Yeomen of the Guard, will assist with Penny's presentation. The workshop meets from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Worship Planning for Smaller Congregations taught by Danny Jones, a 1973 Union graduate. Jones, a consultant for the Baptist Sunday School Board's music ministries department, will assist music ministers and worship planners discover creative methods of using hymnals and other resources, developing and growing a music ministry, and selecting music suitable to smaller choirs. The workshop meets from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Graded Choirs: Who, What, Why taught by Elise Crook Dumser, a 1978 Union graduate. Dumser, a piano teacher and organist/graded choir coordinator for First Baptist Church, Lewisburg, will demonstrate how to enlist and train leaders, cultivate children's voices, encourage and keep leaders, and motivate children and leaders. The workshop meets from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Ring Those Handbells, taught by Dr. Andrew Roby, a 1981 Union graduate. Roby, chair of Union's department of music, focuses on basic and advanced handbell techniques for both ringers and leaders, marking music for time efficiency, and bass bell and 4-in-hand/multiple bell techniques. The workshop meets from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Pianoworks! taught by Monica Hern, a 1969 Union graduate. Hern, a piano technician from Memphis, will demonstrate the piano's inner workings and concentrate on proper maintenance of the instrument. The workshop meets from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

All courses carry a registration fee of $15, except Pianoworks!, which costs only $7. Proceeds will benefit Union's Alumni Leadership Scholarship fund.

Afternoon activities include a free faculty/alumni recital at 4:15 p.m. in the Recital Hall. Activities conclude with an 8 p.m. performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard by Union's Opera Workshop in the University's Harvey Lecture Hall. Tickets to the performance are $5 and may be purchased through Union's office of alumni affairs or department of music.

For more information, call Union's office of alumni affairs at (901) 661-5208 or 1-800-338-6644, Union's department of music at (901) 668-1818 or Beverly Vowell Grant at (615) 758-8256.

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Last updated on March 21, 1996.