BAYTOWN, TX — Musicians and singers from Lee College and the Baytown community will showcase their talent next week in two free concerts at the Performing Arts Center on campus.
Baytown Concert Band
7:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15
Made up of both Lee College students and community members, the Baytown Concert Band will perform a program that includes works by well-known contemporary composers like Christopher Theofinidis, a University of Houston graduate whose pieces have been played by elite orchestras around the world. The concert will also include selections from Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical “Into the Woods,” and the dynamic circus march “Rolling Thunder” by Henry Fillmore.
Band director Kenneth Booker noted “Riften Wed” by Julie Giroux and “A Brass Thing” by Danny Elfman as additional highlights of the program. Giroux’s piece draws inspiration from Riften, a city located in the expansive, fictional world depicted in the popular action video game Skyrim. The eclectic and striking “A Brass Thing” comes from Elfman’s “Serenada Schizophrana” — one of the first orchestral works completed by the renowned film composer.
Choirs of Lee College
7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 16
A chamber choir whose members are all music majors at Lee College, the ensemble’s concert will highlight works of composers from the late 19th century to modern day — from Johannes Brahms to Ola Gjeilo, whose “Ubi Caritas” features a virtuosic piano solo that will be played by accompanist Nedra Bradley. Vocal major Destenee Elliot will be the featured soloist in “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” a clever arrangement of the song written and recorded by Dolly Parton.
Conductor John Weinel’s selection of the repertoire for the choir’s performance was inspired by Carl Sagan’s thoughts on the nature of the universe. “With the exception of ‘Ubi Caritas,’ all of the pieces on the program are related in some way to light and darkness,” he said.