Las Vegas, N.M. – Love will be in the air April 8 when the Highlands University Concert Choir presents “Let’s Fall in Love,” a concert of George Gershwin and Cole Porter favorites.
The concert will be at 3 p.m. in Highlands University’s historic Ilfeld Auditorium at 900 University Ave.
“This concert will feature timeless swing-era and jazz favorites from Gershwin and Porter that are still popular to this day,” said Andre García-Nuthmann, director of Highlands’ choral and vocal program. “These songs are derived from musicals that both composers wrote that were sensational in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Both these men were brilliant composers and pianists.
“The top songs of their Broadway musicals featured in the Concert Choir performance are still classic standards that are performed frequently, such as Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and Porter’s “Let’s Fall in Love” and “It’s De-Lovely,’” García-Nuthmann said.
He said Gershwin, who died in 1937, and Porter, who died in 1964, were two of the most significant and influential American composers and songwriters of all time.
“Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue piano and orchestra composition is one of his greatest achievements, and one of the reasons I became a pianist,” García-Nuthmann said. “Cole Porter is perhaps best remembered for his phenomenal musical, Kiss Me Kate, based upon Shakespeare’s play, Taming of the Shrew.
García-Nuthmann will direct the “Let’s Fall in Love” concert. Highlands music faculty member Edward Harrington will accompany on bass, Em Krall is the pianist, and Miguel Martínez, a Highlands music major, is the percussionist.
Highlands university vocal performance soloists for the concert include Janie Chavez and Jaylene García, both sopranos and seniors. Chavez will solo in “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “The Man I Love.” García will solo in “I’ve Got a Crush On You” and “Love Walked In.”
“Over their years at Highlands, Janie Chavez and Jaylene García have developed into professional-level performers. Their voices are expressive, beautiful and stylistically correct,” García-Nuthmann said.
Other vocal soloists for the concert include Victoria Evans, an alto, in “Love Is Here to Stay;” Betty Thompson, a soprano, in “My Man’s Gone Now;” Werner Muller, a baritone, in “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “Swanee.”
In addition, Janie Chavez and Joe Cooney, a baritone, are the vocal soloists for “Let’s Do It.”
The Highlands University Concert Choir is composed of Highlands University faculty, students, and staff, as well as community members.
“Our Concert Choir is a top notch group of excellent musicians. They always deliver a stellar performance,” García-Nuthmann said.
Tickets for the “Let’s Fall in Love” concert are $5. The concert is free for students with valid IDs.