The Iowa City Flute Choir, a semi-professional community flute ensemble, is excited to present its fall concert at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. This performance will feature mostly newer compositions written for flute choir, plus one orchestral transcription from 1898. Most of these compositions connect to the Earth and the diverse world we have created upon it. Positive energy radiates from this musical ensemble, guaranteeing listeners will leave with a warm holiday spirit.
Notable pieces on the program include Fantasía Oriunda , written by Peruvian composer Daniel Cueto. “Oriundo” in Spanish translates to “native”, an appropriate title for this piece combining elements from the Peruvian musical genres of pregón, tondero, and yaraví plus impressions of the Venezuelan joropo and the Mexican wapango. This piece is a celebration of Latin American unity and will surely awaken a lively spirit for the beginning of the concert.
The flute choir will also present “Danse Nègre”, a piece originally written for piano in 1898 then expanded into a full orchestral suite titled African Suite . The composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, was encouraged to explore his own African heritage by the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, leading Coleridge-Tayor to the creation of African Suite in which each movement illustrates a different aspect of African life. “Danse Nègre” is the final movement of the suite and has been arranged for flute choir by Paige Dashner Long…