The Singing Quaker Alumni Choir will celebrate 20 years of song during a concert at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at Eastminster Presbyterian Church, 1958 N. Webb Road in Wichita.
The 90-member performance group, led by Dr. Cecil J. Riney, will join Dr. Andre J. Thomas, the Owen F. Sellers professor of music and director of choral music education at Florida State University, to perform choral classics and spirituals.
“Dr. Thomas is returning as a guest composer and conductor,” Dr. Riney said. “He is internationally recognized in the field of choral music. He will conduct the second half of the program, which will feature several of his arrangements of Negro spirituals.”
Dr. Thomas may be a familiar face to some at Friends University. As a student, he served as a pianist for the Singing Quakers. “He is one of the most highly esteemed alumni of Friends University,” Dr. Riney said.
After receiving his bachelor of arts degree from Friends University in 1973, he earned a master of music from Northwestern University and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Illinois. He is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician and director of honor and all-state choirs through the United States, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Also featured at the Singing Quaker Alumni concert will be the Friends University Brass Quintet. Other choral composers’ and arrangers’ works featured during the concert will include John Rutter, Jacob Handel, Randall Stroope and Eugene Butler.
Tickets for the event cost $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors and can be purchased through the Friends University Fine Arts Box Office at 316-295-5677. Tickets may also be purchased at the door with cash or check only. Proceeds from the annual fall concert are used to support the alumni choir’s activities, including an endowment that supports scholarships for current Singing Quaker students.
Friends University offers high-quality undergraduate and graduate academic programs for traditional students and working adults. Rooted both in the liberal arts tradition and the Christian tradition, students learn inside and outside the classroom. Friends University is a regional university with national programs and an international presence.