Above: WCU music students rehearse for a Feb. 1 performance.

Western Carolina University will present a variety show and choir performance on Friday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall of Coulter Building as a benefit event for a group of 30 students, alumni and sponsors who will travel to Europe this spring on a 10-day concert tour.

Members of the Concert Choir, University Chorus and Catamount Chamber Singers will participate in the event that will be conducted by Robert Holquist, WCU professor of voice, and Bruce Frazier, WCU’s Belk Distinguished Professor of Commercial and Electronic Music. Patrick Thomas and Megan Gillette, both seniors at WCU, will provide accompaniment.

“This show is going to be, by far, one of the most entertaining recitals at Western because it is totally unscripted and shows the real talents of the groups,” said Ashley Setzer, choir president and a WCU junior majoring in vocal performance and music education.

A variety of pieces will be performed at the benefit event – doo-wop, contemporary Christian, Disney tunes, country, musical theater and patriotic selections, as well as a piano duet and an Elvis appearance.

Audience members also will have opportunities to purchase raffle tickets and bid on items that have been donated by area merchants and restaurants.

“The concert event is a great opportunity for us,” said Lance Newman, choir secretary and a WCU sophomore majoring in music education. “All proceeds from the event will go directly to the group that is going on tour this spring.”

From May 15-24, the group will travel to Germany, Switzerland and Austria, while performing four concerts and sightseeing on the European concert tour.

“This trip will open the world for all participants,” said Setzer, who is from Hickory. “We will get to perform in cathedrals and recital halls where influential musicians sang and played. We will walk the footsteps of some of the finest composers, seeing where they got their inspirations and where they composed some of the finest music ever written.”

“As artists and musicians, we have a lot to learn from European culture on this trip,” said Newman, who is from Elkin. He said he looks forward to visiting Vienna, the home of Mozart, to see where the composer grew up and the cathedrals in which he played.

Tickets to the benefit event cost $7 for adults and seniors, and $4 for students and children. Tickets can be purchased by calling the School of Music at (828) 227-7242, from choral members or at the door.

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Last Modified: Friday, Jan. 25, 2008