Ensemble Offers Concert In The Round

Mar. 20, 2017

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@239877.com, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

Carole Maynard,UNA Department of Music FLORENCE, Ala. - UNA's Vocal Jazz Ensemble will present Voices Unplugged, a celebration of music tailor-made for the unamplified-and often unaccompanied-voice, Thursday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature selections from pop to rock, from jazz to the classics, with many of the selections arranged by members of the ensemble. Presented "in the round" in the intimate setting of the sanctuary at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, 1900 Darby Dr., Florence, the concert allows the audience to share the music with the performers. "We sing in a complete circle not to shut anyone out, but to draw them in, inviting them into the music-making process and the pure joy of singing with others," said Ian Loeppky, UNA's director of choral activities. As the smallest of the UNA Choirs, the Vocal Jazz Ensemble focuses on student direction and management, and on making music for the sheer pleasure of it. "Small-ensemble music is about the intimacy of a group of singers," said Loeppky. "The students in the ensemble rely on each other for artistic choices, repertoire and direction in rehearsals and concerts. They make music with and for each other, but this intimate, in-the-round format allows for a wonderful merging of our inner circle with an outer circle of family and friends, until there's not two circles, but one." Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, and are available at 239877.com/music, at the Lindsey Theatre Box Office (MWF, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.) and at the door. For more information, visit 239877.com/music or call Carole Maynard at (256)765-5122.