University Singers perform tonight

The University Singers will perform a show tonight at 7:30 in the Moody Music Building Concert Hall and will feature songs not typical for a choral concert, said John Ratledge, the director of the group and professor of music at the University.

The men’s a cappella group, Subject to Change, will also perform one song.

University Singers is comprised of 53 students who audition for membership, Ratledge said.

Ratledge compiled songs for the show after finding out in the last week of September that he couldn’t use the previously chosen centerpiece of the program, a song composed by René Clausen. Clausen had composed music to accompany a poem written by someone else, a woman who rejected the musical version.

“So the piece was dead,” Ratledge said. “A piece that came from someone’s spirit was dead. And I had all these pieces that would build up to that. But you have to restructure, you have to regroup.”

The performance includes Michael McGlynn’s “Invocation,” Javier Busto’s “Ave Maris Stella” and “Wade in the Water,” an African-American spiritual.

Soloists for the show are Brian Skoog, Mabs Nolen, Kathleen Buccleugh and Amy Hill.

“There isn’t a specific theme for the performance, but I think spirituality in different forms unites the music,” said Skoog, a senior majoring in vocal performance and pre-medical studies.

Most of the songs deal with spiritual topics such as communion, but aren’t necessarily associated with a specific belief system, Ratledge said.

“It’s about the God presence or nature or Allah or Buddha or whomever,” Ratledge said. “If they don’t believe in anybody, that’s fine.”

Ratledge said that he chose some pieces with a Celtic, new-age sound, all of which were arranged for an Irish choral group called Anúna. One of these pieces is “Invocation,” which he said has a luscious, gooey sound that invokes the land of Ireland and talks about inspiration and connection to Mother Earth.

“It’s just surreal almost, and so different than what I do usually,” Ratledge said.

“Wade in the Water” is a slave code song that gave slaves instructions for getting to the Underground Railroad, Ratledge said. Busto, the composer of “Ave Maris Stella,” is a medical doctor who questions the possibility of a virgin birth in the piece.

University Singers practices four days a week to prepare for a variety of performances, including UA’s Spectrum concerts and choral conventions.

“As a group, you can achieve a level of music you can’t do by yourself,” Skoog said. “I like being a smaller piece in the big picture.”

Although University Singers is not limited to music majors, they make up the majority of the group. Some students studying subjects like telecommunication and marketing also participate, Ratledge said. Members of the group range in age from 18 to 42, including undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.

“It’s a huge age range, which poses unique problems, especially when you have a DMA, a doctoral student who has much experience, and you have a freshman who’s starting the pilgrimage,” Ratledge said. “It’s an interesting balance to make it interesting for the experienced and not overly challenging for the inexperienced.”

What: University Singers concert
When: Tonight at 7:30
Where: Moody Music Building Concert Hall