Advance program notes virginia tech

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Advance Program Notes

The Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir Friday, September 19, 2014, 7:30 pm

These Advance Program Notes are provided online for our patrons who like to read about performances ahead of time. Printed programs will be provided to patrons at the performances. Programs are subject to change.

The Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir

Direct from Dakar, Senegal

Friday, September 19, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Part One

Fala La; traditional song to begin the concert You Better Mind; traditional gospel song The Storm is Passing Over; traditional gospel song Percussion Soruba Simieno; praises of Mary the Blessed Virgin in the Serere language, composed by Julien Jouga Bandia; song in the Bambara language, arranged by Julien Jouga Ta Vueta; song about the act of grace Requiem Latino-Wolof; adaptation from Mozart's Requiem in the Wolof language Jam; song in the Wolof language, the national language of the Senegalese Wolof, for peace in Senegal and in the world Percussion Sabar

Intermission

Part Two

Percussion Soruba Kyrie; from a Mass composed by Julien Jouga, founder of the choir Gloria; from a Mass composed in Portuguese Creole by Julien Jouga Ku Kertien; Christmas song in the Diola language of southern Senegal Walay; Wolof song for blind men begging for alms El? Way Way; song to give young women strength and courage during the traditional tattoo ceremony Coump; popular song in the Diola language, used to cast out bad spirits Marenal; traditional gospel Terra Sabi; Creole song sung during the winter ploughing in order to encourage farmers Diot Niam; traditional Serere, a Senegalese ethnicity

Biography

The Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir Company of 15 singers and four traditional Senegalese drummers

The Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir was founded in 1950 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's Ambassador Artist for Peace, Julien Jouga (1931-2001). Having an earnest pride for his country and its culture, Jouga was not only a commander in the Senegalese Army and a coach of the National Basketball Team of Senegal, but also a fervent musician. Jouga was dedicated to the development of Catholic choral singing of the diverse repertoire, from the styles of Gregorian chant to polyphony, and inspired by the indigenous harmonic forms of Senegalese music. He was a true visionary in the development and preservation of the Senegalese Culture.

For those who have had the chance to see Jouga leading the Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir from Dakar, it was impossible to forget the intensity of those focused on him, on his face, in front of which his long hands and delicate fingers transmitted rhythm and voluptuousness to the singing. Jouga and his choir are but one, touched by the same grace.

Created more than 44 years ago, the Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir is now lead by its music director, Ambroise N'Diong, and is composed of the Cathedral's chorale, that of St. Joseph's of Medina, who each Sunday, in the heart of Dakar's most working-class neighborhood, interprets Gospel/Negro Spirituals, traditional African Songs, and the magnificent masses that Jouga composed in his country's four national languages: Ouolof, Diola, S?r?re, and Portugese Creole. The voices--to which drums, guitar, and kora are occasionally added--rise in a local polyphony invented by Jouga, testifying at the same time not only to his mastery of language, but to his profound knowledge of his country's rhythms and music traditions. It is to this extent that he arranged and harmonized songs taken from the folklore and tradition of Senegal, truly signifying the pieces of the everyday people of Senegal. An ecumenical partisan, Jouga interpreted and combined both the Catholic liturgy and the indigenous Muslim songs of Senegal to create an extraordinary harmony between the two cultures that comprises the nation of Senegal. The Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir therefore represents the humanity and the fraternity that exists within the capital city, Dakar, and throughout the country of Senegal.

Engagement Activities

Friday, September 19, 2014, 6 p.m. Project Presentation, ERA Senegal: Education and Research in Agriculture Cube Since 2010, Virginia Tech has partnered with four American universities--Connecticut, Michigan State, Purdue, and Tuskegee--as well as Senegalese agriculture experts to strengthen Senegal's agricultural education sector. The five-year project, managed by the Office of International Research, Education, and Development at Virginia Tech, incorporates the U.S. land-grant model in order to build human capacity in Senegalese institutions responsible for agricultural education, discovery, and outreach. The project is part of the U.S. government's Feed the Future Initiative, an effort to address the underlying causes of hunger and under-nutrition around the world. Virginia Tech faculty leaders of ERA Senegal, with Senegalese students pursing master's degrees in agricultural fields as part of the capacity building efforts of the project, will present their work in advance of the performance of the visiting Senegal St. Joseph Gospel Choir. Free, registration required

Friday, September 19, 2014, 6:30 p.m. ERA Senegal: Poster display Grand Lobby Free

In the Galleries

Explore CONNECTIONS

between works of art, artists, and viewers

between art past and present

between ideas and their aesthetic manifestation

Evolving Geometries: Line, Form, and Color Exhibition Opening Reception: September 25, 2014, 6-8 PM Thursday, September 25, 2014-Thursday, November 20, 2014 Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10 AM-6 PM/Saturday-Sunday, 10 AM-4 PM

Three one-person exhibitions by renowned artists Manfred Mohr, Patrick Wilson, and Odili Donald Odita, who inventively explore geometry from multiple perspectives.

Manfred Mohr Stills from Cube Transformation Study, 1972 Digitization of original 16mm film

Programmed in FORTRAN IV