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Annual pops concert on tap at Bluffton University April 9

Bluffton University bands and choirs will perform in the music department's annual Pops Concert, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 9, in Founders Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

The university Concert Band will present three numbers under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Boehm, professor of music. On the program are "Commando March" by Samuel Barber, "MacArthur Park" by Jimmy Webb and "The Cell Phone Concerto" by Jim Stephenson. Stephenson wrote the piece as a comical social comment on the interruption the cell phone causes in today's society, but mostly in concert settings. Jodi Diller, music department administrative assistant and a Bluffton music education graduate, will be the featured "cell phone soloist."

Dr. Adam Schattschneider, professor of music, will direct the university Jazz Ensemble on four numbers: "All The Way" by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen; "Alfie" by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, with Dr. Crystal Sellers, assistant professor of music, as vocal soloist; "Spin Cycle" by Alan Baylock; and "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin.

The Percussion Ensemble will perform Lady Antebellum's "I Run to You"-with an arrangement by Bluffton student James Brake, a sophomore from Ohio City, Ohio-and "Long Train Runnin'" by the Doobie Brothers. Samantha Mack, a first-year student from Rockford, Mich., will be the vocal soloist on "Long Train Runnin'," with Dr. Peter Terry, associate professor of information technology and music, on guitar. Directing the ensemble is Dennis Crites, an adjunct music faculty member who also did the arrangement of "Long Train Runnin'" for the concert.

Judy Hall, also an adjunct faculty member, will conduct two of the three participating choirs, Bel Canto and Camerata Singers.

Bel Canto, Bluffton's all-female chorus, will perform three pieces, including "Pick a Bale of Cotton," arranged by Charles Yerhun; "Hush-Bye Mountain," from the musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"; and "Can You Hear?" The latter number will feature students Ashley Regedanz, a sophomore from Spencerville, Ohio, on djembe; Tori Miller, a sophomore from Jeromesville, Ohio, on shaker; and Kelsey Smith, a senior from Celina, Ohio, on marimba.

Camerata Singers
will also present three pieces, beginning with "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," from the musical "Guys and Dolls," and the Beatles' "Penny Lane." The final number, "Cindy," composed by Mack Wilberg, will feature Brake on xylophone and four-hand piano played by Allison Ringold, an adjunct music faculty member, and Stephanie Patterson, a sophomore from McComb, Ohio.

David Sawatzky, assistant professor of music, will conduct the third choir, Accent! The all-male group will perform "Fine Summer Borshch" by Willi Zwozdesky; "Ne Sedi, Djemo!", a Steven Sametz arrangement of a Bosnian folk song; and "Ramkali," a song of devotion to the Lord based on an Indian raga and arranged by Ethan Sperry. Accompanying Accent! as well as Bel Canto is adjunct faculty member Anna Stembler-Smith.

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