Presidential Concert Series Returns with 31st Season
Lee University’s Presidential Concert Series returns in grand fashion with its 31st season, promising a mixed slate of returning and new performers, including audience favorites Rockapella and Glenn Miller Orchestra.
“Music is balm for the soul; it is God’s gift that can energize or soothe us, and we are delighted to announce this new season of the Presidential Concert Series,” said Darlia Conn, series director. “There will be something for every music taste, whether to calm our spirits or get our toes tapping.”
Returning to Lee’s campus after its popular performance in 2021, the Glenn Miller Orchestra will open the concert series on September 28 in Pangle Hall. Considered one of the “greatest bands of all time,” the Glenn Miller Orchestra has toured continuously since 1956, featured in over 200 concerts and dances per year, with each performance including the timeless classics that made it famous the world over in a show that has moved audiences for generations.
The twice Grammy-nominated ensemble Imani Winds, along with acclaimed pianist Terrence Wilson, will continue the series on October 26. Celebrating over 20 years of music making, Imani Winds embraces traditional chamber music repertoire and newly commissioned works from voices that reflect historical events and the times in which we currently live. Wilson, who has been described by the Baltimore Sun as “one of the biggest pianistic talents to have emerged in this country in the last 25 years,” has appeared as a soloist in symphony orchestras all over the country.
Rockapella, known as one of the originators of contemporary a cappella, returns to Lee for its third appearance on Jan. 16, 2024. Based in New York City, Rockapella has become one of the world’s most sophisticated, lasting, and imitated vocal groups around today. The ensemble has toured the globe; made guest appearances on the Today Show, The Tonight Show, and TV specials; and provided a funky powerful soundtrack to several generations of vocal music fans, while keeping it fresh all along the way.
The series will continue Feb. 6, 2024, with pianist Zlata Chochieva, who first came to international attention with her highly praised recordings of works by Chopin and Rachmaninov. Displaying a deep affinity with these composers, combined with probing honesty and imagination, they have established her as a distinctive voice among pianists.
Pianist Gloria Chien, joined by clarinetist Anthony McGill and mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron, will close out the series on March 25, 2024. Chien has been picked by the Boston Globe as one of the Superior Pianists of the year, “… who appears to excel in everything.” In 2009, Chien launched String Theory, a chamber music series at the Hunter Museum of American Art in downtown Chattanooga, and she is an artist-in-residence at Lee.
McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable figures and was the first African American principal player in the New York Philharmonic. Barron has been present in the opera community and has been hailed as “a knockout performer” by The Times. Chien, McGill, and Barron will perform an unforgettable program arranged for this unique combination. The following evening, the trio will present an entirely different program at String Theory at the Hunter in Chattanooga.
All concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m. The September, October, and January performances will take place in Pangle Hall, the February performance will be held in Squires Recital Hall, and the March concert will take place in the Lee Chapel.
Tickets for all performances are $15 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, and children. Tickets are available for purchase at the Lee University Box Office in the Dixon Center or by contacting (423) 614-8343, one week before each event, between 3-6 p.m.
Designated parking will be available all season, with assistance available if needed. Details will be announced in the days leading up to each concert in the series, which will utilize a range of concert venues on Lee’s campus.
Additional funding for the Imani Winds and Rockapella concerts is generously provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.
For more information on the Presidential Concert Series, visit leeuniversity.edu/academics/music/pcs/ or call the School of Music at (423) 614-8240.
