The Catawba Singers, Catawba College's highly regarded and auditioned concert choir, are set to depart on their Spring 2011 Tour on Thursday, March 3.  The 2011 Tour coincides in part with Catawba's spring break and includes performance stops in Huntington, W. Va.; Evansville, Ind.; Springfield, Ill.; Chicago, Ill.; Louisville, Ky.; Bristol, Tenn.; and Hickory, N.C.

The highlight of the choir's trip will be a premiere performance of Eric Whitacre's new work Paradise Lost: Shadows & Wings to be sung in the historic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago. This concert, conducted by Whitacre, is a prelude concert for the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. The Catawba Singers were personally invited by Eric Whitacre to sing in this premiere performance.

The annual tour provides an opportunity for the college to have "face to face" conversations with alumni and prospective students in various regions of the country. In each of the concert cities, churches will host the students in members' homes and will provide performance venues. Additionally, the tour allows the institution to widen and deepen historic ties to the United Church of Christ denomination, with which Catawba is affiliated. 

The Catawba Singers are under the direction of Paul E. Oakley, Catawba's Artist-in-Residence in Choral Music, Associate Professor of Music, and also the College Organist.  Oakley has an active international career as both conductor and organist. This is his fourth year on the faculty of Catawba College and his fourth tour with the Catawba Singers. Under his direction, the Catawba Singers have performed a solo concert in New York's Carnegie Hall and the Washington National Cathedral. The choir has also performed for both the North Carolina American Choral Directors Convention and the North Carolina Music Educators Convocation.

Following is a list of performance venues, dates and times for this year's tour:

• Thursday, March 3 – 7:00pm
  Fifth Avenue Baptist Church
  1135 5th Avenue
  Huntington, West Virginia  25701
  www.fifthavenuebaptist.org
  
  
• Friday, March 4 – 7:00pm
  Cathedral Church of Saint Benedict
  1328 Lincoln Avenue
  Evansville, Indiana  47714
  www.saintbenedictcathedral.org
  
  
• Saturday, March 5 – 7:00pm
  Westminster Presbyterian Church
  533 South Walnut Street
  Springfield, Illinois  62704
  www.wpcspi.org
  
  
• Tuesday, March 8 – 2:00pm
  Performance
  Eric Whitacre – Conductor and composer
  "PARADISE LOST: SHADOWS & WINGS"
  Auditorium Theatre
  Roosevelt University
  430 South Michigan Avenue
  Chicago, Illinois  60605
  
  
• Wednesday, March 9 (Ash Wednesday) – 7:00pm
  Saint Andrew United Church of Christ
  2608 Browns Lane
  Louisville, Kentucky  40220
  www.saintandrewucc.org
  
  
• Thursday, March 10 – 7:00pm
  First Presbyterian Church
  701 Florida Avenue
  Bristol, Tennessee  37620-4009
  www.fpcbristol.org
                                                                                                                                                  
  
• Friday, March 11 – 7:00pm
  Corinth Reformed Church
  150 16th Avenue Northwest
  Hickory, North Carolina 28601
  www.corinthtoday.org
  

RELATED CONTENT:

BLOG: On Tour with the Catawba Singers

• Meet the Choir
• Tour and Itinerary
• Program (PDF)
• Friends of Music
• Catawba Music on YouTube and Facebook
• Music Ensembles and the Music Department