Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir and Brass Ensemble tour North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
HICKORY, N.C. – The Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir and Brass Ensemble are pleased to announce their annual spring semester tour, March 21-25, 2024, with performances in Belmont, North Carolina, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and Mooresville, North Carolina. The choir and brass ensembles will also participate in Sunday morning worship at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Brunswick, Georgia.
All performances are open to the public and no tickets are required. The program will feature choral and brass music of a variety of time periods and styles, including highlights from Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana,a song cycle the choir performed February 9 in Hickory, North Carolina with the Western Piedmont Symphony. Other selections include music by Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, Harry Belafonte, Orlando Gibbons, Michael D. Costello, Susan LaBarr, Darin John Lewis, Eslon Hindundu, Dan Forrest and F. Melius
Christiansen.
The A Cappella Choir is directed by associate professor of music Ryan Luhrs, Ph.D., and accompanied by Jeana Neal Borman. Professor of Music Christopher Nigrelli, DMA, conducts the LRU Brass Ensemble. Senior music majors Sydney Weaver ’24 and Kristen Turner ’24 will also lead the choir in performance.
Founded in 1935 by St. Olaf Choir alumnus Kenneth Lee, the Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir is LenoirRhyne University’s flagship choral ensemble. The choir performs frequently, including an annual fall concert, A Lenoir-Rhyne Christmas, and spring tour. In May of 2023, the choir traveled to Spain and performed in Toledo, Seville, Grenada, and Madrid. In 2019, the choir traveled to Ireland and presented concerts in Galway, Belfast, and the Dublin area. Other recent events include a hymn festival tour and capstone worship event commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation (2017), a spring tour to Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina (2018), joint performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (2018), Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo (2020), and Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana (2024) with the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, performances with the National Lutheran Choir (2020, 2024), and fall concert with the Hickory Choral Society (2022). Current director Ryan Luhrs began leading the A Cappella Choir in 2016 and is the ensemble’s fourth director, he follows the tenures of Paul Weber (1999-2016), E. Ray McNeely (1971-1999), and Kenneth Lee (1935-1971).
LENOIR-RHYNE A CAPPELLA CHOIR and BRASS ENSEMBLE 2024 SPRING TOUR
Thursday, March 21, 7:00 p.m. – Lutheran Church of the Holy Comforter, Belmont, NC
Friday, March 22, 7:00 p.m. – All Saints Lutheran Church, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Saturday, March 23, 7:00 p.m. – Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Savannah, GA
Sunday, March 24, 10:15 a.m. – St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Brunswick, GA
(participation in morning worship)
Monday, March 25, 7:00 p.m. – St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Mooresville, NC
For more information, about the Lenoir-Rhyne A Cappella Choir spring tour visit calendar.lr.edu or contact Luhrs at ryan.luhrs@ lr.edu.
About Lenoir-Rhyne University:
Founded in 1891, LenoirRhyne University is a coeducational, private liberal arts institution with more than 50 undergraduate degree programs and 20+ graduate degree programs. LR enrolls more than 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students. LR’s main campus is in Hickory, North Carolina, where both undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered. The university also offers graduate degree programs on its campuses in Asheville, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary is also in Columbia. LR is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and welcomes students from all religious backgrounds. The website is www.lr.edu.