Illinois Valley Community College music ensembles to perform separate spring concerts

Spring and music are in the air as all of Illinois Valley Community College’s music ensembles take the stage in separate spring concerts April 29 through May 2.

The IVCC choir performs Monday, the jazz ensemble performs Tuesday, the guitar students’ recital is Wednesday, and the wind ensemble performs Thursday. All concerts begin at 7 p.m. in the IVCC Cultural Centre.

After a “Sing for Joy” theme, choir selections include music from “Mary Poppins,” “Carousel,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Willie Wonka,” “42nd Street” and “Ragtime.”

Selections include “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Give Us Hope,” “Feed the Birds,” “An die Musik,” “Quella Flamma,” “The Jolly Roger,” “Mr. Snow,” “Forty-Second Street,” “Pure Imagination,” “A Wink and A Smile” and “Make Them Hear You.”

The choir is under the direction of Jenilyn Roether.

The jazz ensemble performance Tuesday will feature guest artist Andy Rummel, a professor of tuba and euphonium at Illinois State University and principal tubist with the Heartland Festival Orchestra.

Selections will include “When Yubba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba,” “Blues for Ben,” “My Funny Valentine,” “Spherical,” “Birdland” and “Bomb Omb Battlefield” from Super Mario 64.

The jazz ensemble is under the direction of Brandon Czubachowski.

The wind ensemble performance Thursday will feature “Music Portraits by the Masters,” as well as arrangements by Frank Ticheli, Alfred Reed, Robert Sheldon, Robert Jager, John Edmondson and Don Gillis. While in Illinois, Sheldon wrote several works for local band programs in Ottawa and Normal.

Selections include “Ye Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon,” “A Jubilant Overture,” “Metroplex: Three Postcards from Manhattan,” “Third Suite,” “Tribute to Louis Armstrong” and “Tulsa: A Symphonic Portrait of Oil.”

The wind ensemble is under the direction of Phil Whaley.

All of the ensembles comprise IVCC students and community members.

On Wednesday, guitar student Jakob Ellerbrock will perform an instrumental rendition of “Nutshell” by Alice In Chains, and student Elizabeth Shaw will accompany her instrumental “Laramee,” by Richy Mitch, on vocals. Instructor Kevin Kramer will accompany Ellerbrock and perform some other selections.

Additionally, the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra will perform in concert at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4, in the Cultural Centre.