May 1, 2001 Sp101 Contact: Sarah Maxwell Director of Media Relations (507) 646-4183 Carleton and Macalester Colleges to Present Joint Choral Concert Northfield, Minn. — The Carleton College Singers and Macalester College Concert Choir will present a joint concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 6, at Landmark Center in St. Paul. The event, titled "A Choral Exchange," also features the Carleton men’s and women’s glee clubs. The concert is free and open to the public and no tickets are required. According to Lawrence Burnett, choral director and professor of music at Carleton, this is the first time the choirs of the two liberal arts colleges have performed together. "Robert [L. Morris, director of choral activities at Macalester] and I have searched for a long time for a way to bring our students together to share music and the choral experience," Burnett said. "This concert is the result of that." The student choral groups will perform a wide range of repertoire, primarily focusing on works from both the sacred and secular folk traditions, with songs performed in their indigenous languages. Each choir will sing separately and then combine to perform Anthony Pattin’s "Hallelujah is the Highest Praise." The program features several African-American spirituals, works by Edvard Grieg, Stephen Foster, Percy Grainger and Sergei Rachmaninoff, and numerous songs from around the world. Burnett has served on the faculty at Carleton since 1993. He has performed extensively as a soloist and his teaching experience spans more than 25 years in public schools and colleges. He also has served as guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator for numerous choral festivals, honor choirs, choral and solo competitions, and workshops. In addition to directing Carleton’s choral ensembles, Burnett teaches courses in African-American music history, conducting and choral literature. His current research focuses on the study and compilation of the histories of musicians who have kept alive the styles and traditions of African-American music. In addition to leading the Macalester Concert Choir in concerts and tours nationally and internationally, Morris is the founder and artistic director of the Leigh Morris Chorale, a Twin Cities-based community choir. His scholarship focuses on preserving African-American performance traditions and his contributions are often cited in dissertations and theses on African-American music. Morris has published numerous manuscript settings, including the recently released "Lyric Suite," five songs for solo voice and piano, and "Rockin’ Jerusalem!," which was professionally debuted by The Dale Warland Singers. # # # #