The SUNY Oswego Music Department, featuring the Oswego Festival Chorus, Laker Chorale, and the Oswego States Singers will present a choral concert, "Dual of Fates," on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 7:30 pm at Sheldon Hall ballroom.
 

The concert will feature choral selections by composers Johannes Brahms, W.A. Mozart, John Williams, Randall Thompson, Claude Debussy, Jonathan Quick, Sarah Quartel, Michael McGlynn, Robert Schumann, and Alice Parker. The choral pieces selected exemplify fate as an artistic, musical creation topic.

According to conductor Dr. Ben May, “Throughout history, people have responded to the idea of fate by creating art, including choral music. Whether in the Impressionism of Debussy, the Classicism of Mozart, the Romanticism of Brahms, or modernist scores by Randall Thompson, composers have written profound music that asks why human beings are subjected to the whims of destiny. In many cases, these questioning works connect to our humanity on a fundamental level, and such music often finds itself among a composer's best-known works.”

May added, “The idea of fate-based music also extends to folk music traditions; we will sing two wonderful arrangements of folk songs by Michael McGlynn, Alice Parker, and Jonathan Quick that explore similar themes of love, loss, and destiny. We will also perform fate-themed music by the Italian Renaissance composer Maddalena Casulana and modern-day composer Sarah Quartel. We will celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace by performing John Williams & epic choral anthem ‘Duel of the Fates.’”

In addition to the choral concert, retiring SUNY Oswego professor and former Director of Choral Activities Dr. Julie Pretzat will be honored at the event.

Admission is free (with a free-will donation for Festival Chorus if desired).