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MILLIGAN, Tenn. (Oct. 29, 2024) – The Milligan University Orchestra, under the direction of Milligan’s Area Chair of Music Dr. Kellie Brown, will present the concert “Saints and Villains” on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mary B. Martin Auditorium in Seeger Chapel.
The concert celebrates the proximity of Halloween and All Saints Day with performances that will inspire and entertain. Concertgoers will enjoy a broad range of pieces including film music from “Twilight,” “King Kong” and “Harry Potter,” along with selections from the Broadway musical “Wicked.”
“This concert will explore the duality between what we think of as good and bad and dark and light, even though they are more nuanced,” said Brown. “Film music is an exciting way to explore this, like in the Harry Potter and Twilight series, where there are characters that seem clearly good or bad on the surface, but a closer inspection shows a blurring of that line. Music is great at teasing out those contradictions.”
One of the highlights of the concert will be works for harp and strings, including William Hofeldt’s “In the Company of Angels” and Brian Balmages’ “Rise of the Olympians.”
For these pieces, the Milligan Orchestra will be joined onstage by guest harpist Emily Goins. Goins is a classically trained harpist in Johnson City, Tennessee. She has received the Kathrin Fouse Award and the Salzedo Prize from the American Harp Society. Goins has also performed regularly with orchestras and ensembles in Indiana, including the Marion Philharmonic, Orchestra Indiana, Kokomo Symphony, Purdue Wind Ensemble and Ball State Wind Ensemble.
In addition, the concert will feature Cantemus, the Tri-Cities premier women’s choir, and the Dobyns-Bennett Chamber Choir, both under the direction of Patricia Denmark, along with the Milligan Women’s Chorale, under the direction of Kelly Davenport.
The choirs will be a prominent feature in the concert’s finale which includes Gabriel Fauré’s beloved “Cantique de Jean Racine” and Craig Courtney’s “Make Me an Instrument.”
“Audiences will enjoy the variety of repertoire presented, including music that will be familiar and pieces that are new to them,” said Brown. “Throughout the many different moods and styles presented in this concert, what will remain universal is music’s expertise at affecting us emotionally.”
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, visit milligan.edu/arts or contact the music office at music@milligan.edu or 423.461.8723.