The Cochise College music department is gearing up for its annual spring performances, presented in April and May.
Choirs will kick off this semester’s concert season, with the Cochise College High Desert Singers combining with the Note-ables and the Buena High School Concert Choir and Dynamics ensemble for “Baroque and Beyond” at 7 p.m. April 12 at the Buena High School Performing Arts Center. The concert will feature music by Purcell, Handel, Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Offenbach and other composers, concluding with Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” accompanied by a chamber orchestra.
On April 14, the Cochise College High Desert Singers and Note-ables will perform “Baroque and Beyond” with a small chamber ensemble, following much of the same format as the previous concert, beginning at 3 p.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church, located at 100 Higgins Hill in Bisbee. Much of the music will be the same, but there will be some additional songs in the folk and American spirituals style.
On April 25, Cochise College Vocalise will join with the women’s barbershop quartet Bedazzled for “A Little Light Music,” beginning at 7 p.m. at Kino Hall in Sierra Vista. Vocalists will perform light music, including madrigals, barbershop and jazz, culminating in a medley of songs from the 1960s.
Admission is free to all concerts, but donations are accepted to help cover costs and contribute to the Cochise College Music Scholarship Fund.
The Sierra Vista Campus Concert Band and Jazz Band perform May 2 in the Student Union Community Room. The Concert Band, directed by Brad Gallant, begins at 6 p.m., and the Jazz Band, directed by Mike Kuhn, follows at 7 p.m.
On May 6, Cochise College’s Nuevo Mundo Early Music consort and Women’s Ensemble will perform at 7 p.m. at the Arizona Folklore Preserve. Concert-goers must call (520) 515-8759 in advance to arrange for tickets, since the venue offers limited space and parking. The groups will perform music from early Spain and the New World, spirituals, and 20th century sacred and secular music.
The following weekend, the college’s Bi-national Chorus, Douglas Campus Instrumental Ensemble, Repertoire Strategy Chamber Group and Women’s Ensemble will collaborate for two free performances in Douglas and Bisbee. On Saturday, May 11, the concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Douglas Government Center. On Sunday, May 12, it begins at 3 p.m. at the Central School Project in Bisbee. The wide array of music performed will include a Bach motet, spirituals, 20th century music, Renaissance dances and Irish tunes.
For more information about Cochise College’s spring concerts, call (520) 515-5316.