Langager sparks a Choral celebration

trevor.kenney — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:18:39 +0000

It's not often Lethbridge experiences a collaboration of our community's strongest choirs in one concert, but on Mar. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at Southminster United Church, Vox Musica, LCI Chamber Choir and the U of L Singers join together for Awake My Soul and Sing: A Choral Celebration.

The concert caps off an intensive week of workshops and rehearsals with guest conductor, Dr. Graeme Langager, director of choral activities at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of British Columbia School of Music. The weeklong workshops, co-ordinated by the Vox Musica Choral Society, provide an opportunity for the choirs to share expertise.

"Our mandate is to promote choral music in southern Alberta and we believe providing opportunity for these activities outside our fixed rehearsal schedule benefits our choir, as well as the other choirs participating in the workshops," says Carolyn Speakman, Vox Musica Choral Society president.

Langager's visit includes spending 4-5 hours with each choir during their regular rehearsals.

"Dr. Langager was a student at LCI and sang with Frank Gnandt's choir in high school," says Speakman. "After spending several years in the United States, he's returned to Canada and is now part of the Canadian choral scene."

Langager received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from California State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Long Beach. He has taught throughout the United States, including stops in California, Ohio, North Carolina and Arkansas, and at the high school, college and university levels. A sought after clinician and guest conductor, he is also an active composer and arranger.

Langager's choirs have performed throughout Europe and the United States including such prestigious venues as St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Stefansdom in Vienna, Notre Dame in Paris, St. Nicholas in Prague and St. Stephen's in Budapest.

"The concert promises a varied program that showcases the strengths and talents of each choir," says Speakman.

Tickets to this rare evening of choral masterpieces are available at Long and McQuade (323 – 8th St. S.) for $15 regular and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are also available at the door on the night of the concert.

For look at the February issue of the Legend in a flipbook format, follow this link.

Billy McCarroll

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:14:50 +0000

Billy J. McCarroll was born in Santa Barbara, Cal. in 1937. He received a golf scholarship to California State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in 1962 and played varsity golf while pursuing a BA in visual arts.

In 1969, McCarroll completed his MA at California State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, and two years later joined the Department of Art at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

McCarroll taught printmaking, drawing and painting from 1971 to 1994 and was director/curator at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery from 1972 to 1981, during the formative years of the collection.

McCarroll continues to be an active member of the southern Alberta art community, participating in collaborative projects such as The McIntyre Ranch Project and group exhibitions, as well as numerous solo exhibitions. McCarroll is also an accomplished jazz musician and continues to be an avid golfer.

McCarroll's early work focused on procedural abstraction, as he created paintings composed of layer upon layer of paint, building up textured surfaces. His practice then became preoccupied with geometric abstraction until 1983, when Calgary artist (and McCarroll's frequent golf partner) John Will gave McCarroll a copy of the instructional book, Sam Snead's Natural Golf.

McCarroll began appropriating images from the book as the focus of his paintings, prints and drawings – and has continued to do so for over 20 years. His use of stylized shapes, thick black outlines and vibrant colour palette often cause McCarroll's work to be categorized as Pop Art, referencing figurative art of the 1960s that drew on advertising imagery.

Much of the critical response to McCarroll's work has made a link between his subject matter and a philosophical life approach. The challenges inherent in the game of golf are often presented as metaphors for the wins and losses we face in contemporary life.

It has also been suggested, however, that McCarroll himself somewhat rejects the deep symbolism imparted upon his work. It is not difficult to imagine advice he has imparted on the golf course as also influencing his art practice: "analysis leads to paralysis, keep it in one piece, stop thinking so much".

UNews - California State ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ

Langager sparks a Choral celebration

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Billy McCarroll

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UNews - California State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ