The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra will present its spring concert as a free livestreamed event at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30.
The concert will open with UTC alumnus and award-winning local composer Ethan McGrath’s “Fantasia on Sacred Harp Tunes.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with UTC alumnus Ethan McGrath on several occasions,” explained orchestra conductor Sandy Morris.
“Ethan’s music transcends the notes on the page and speaks to one’s soul. His “Fantasia on Sacred Harp Tunes” connects us with the ‘shaped-note’ style of singing that was prevalent in the Deep South but with contemporary harmonies that add to its beauty.”
Also on the program are the first two movements of Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C Major, “The Great.”
Ethan McGrath ’14
A composer of diverse influences, Ethan McGrath seeks to write music that will break down barriers between people and conveys meaning to anyone who hears it.
Recent commissions include the American Choral Directors Association, the Voce Chamber Choir (London, England), and the New Consort (NYC). His compositions have been featured in workshops by Rodney Eichenberger and performed by ensembles like the Choir of Trinity College (Cambridge, England), the Capitol Hearings (Washington, D.C.), and the Taipei Chamber Singers.
He has received awards from the Musica Sacra Institute (Poland), Alfred Music, and the Southeastern Composers League, and his works have been published by Oxford University Press, Schott Music and Beckenhorst Press, among others.
Ethan studied composition with J. Bruce Ashton and Jonathan McNair at Southern Adventist University and UTC and earned a Master of Music in conducting at the University of Cambridge, where he studied under Stephen Layton and Timothy Brown, among others.
For more information, visit: ethanmcgrath.com
UTC Symphony Orchestra
This 45-member college/community orchestra includes music majors and non-majors from UTC and Chattanooga State, UTC music faculty members, area music educators and other talented amateur and professional musicians from the region.
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