The Evangel University Orchestra and Sinfonia will appear in concert Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, at 7:30 p.m., in the Robert H. Spence Chapel Auditorium.
Special guests for the evening will be two orchestras from the Play and Sing His Praises Home School Orchestra (PSHP) program under the direction of Kathy Love.
“We are anticipating 50 students from the Home School Orchestra program joining us for this special evening,” said Dr. Larry Dissmore, professor of strings and director of orchestral activities at Evangel.
The concert is free and open to the public. The Spence chapel is located just north of the main entrance to the Evangel campus at 1111 N. Glenstone Ave.
“The varied program will include selections played by each orchestra,” said Dissmore. “The concert will conclude with the combined forces of all three orchestras as they present selections by Dvorak, Gordon Jacob and Frederick Loewe.”
Dr. Dissmore is in his 31st year at Evangel University. In addition, he has performed regionally with the Excelsis Trio for more than 20 years, and he currently serves as the principal second violinist with the Springfield Symphony.
The program
The Evangel Sinfonia will open the program with three hymn/gospel arrangements. These will include:
- “Praise Him!” (‘All Creatures of our God and King’) arr. by Richard Kingsmore,
- “Awesome God” arr. by Jason Thoms and featuring student pianist, Gregory Worthley, and
- “African-American Spirituals Medley” arr. by Dan Goeller.
The Sinfonia will be followed the PSHP orchestras performing:
- “Overture to Messiah” by Handel, and
- an arrangement of the hymn, “O, How I Love Jesus.”
The Evangel University orchestra will then perform:
- “Dance of the Tumblers” from Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korakov.
The program will conclude with the combined orchestras performing:
- Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance in G minor,
- Gordon Jacob’s, Fantasia on the Alleluia Hymn, and
- “Selections from My Fair Lady” arr. by John Whitney.
The Play and Sing His Praises Home School Music Program
Play and Sing His Praises was founded by director Kathy Love and is now in its 21st year. PSHP started with 18 students in one orchestra class and one teacher and has grown to 360 students, 40 adult teachers and 25 performing ensembles.
PSHP is a Christ-centered organization with the purpose of providing quality music instruction for home school students. Each music student receives two hours of instruction every Friday; with one hour in their performing ensemble and one hour in a music theory class. Performing classes that are offered include 6 levels of Orchestra, 6 levels of Band, 5 levels of Guitar, 4 levels of Choir, as well as Recorder, Praise and Worship, Harp Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble.
The performance features Beethoven Orchestra, a high school orchestra, and Brahms, a chamber orchestra.
PSHP teachers for these two ensembles are Abby Ellingsworth, Dustin Bush, Rebecca Norwood, Libby O’Neil and Kathy Love.
For more information, please check their website: http://playhispraises.com
Evangel University
The Department of Music at Evangel University offers majors in music education, music performance, recording technology and worship leadership. Each program is carefully designed to ensure that students build strong musical skills, gain professional training and experience a wide range of musical activities.
The department is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and the Missouri Association of Departments & Schools of Music.
For more information, contact Dr. Dissmore at (417) 865-2815, ext. 7214.
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