FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

March 6, 2008

GRINNELL SINGERS IN CONCERT DURING SPRING BREAK TOUR

GRINNELL, IA. - The Grinnell Singers, a 45-voice choral ensemble from Grinnell College, will present concerts March 15-20, in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn and Albany, New York, as part of a spring break tour.

The Grinnell Singers will perform the East Coast premiere of "Convivencia," composed by Professor of Music John Rommereim. The term "convivencia" refers to the coexistence of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The central impulse behind Rommereim’s composition is to draw connections between cultures by focusing on shared experiences such as affection, desire, grief, loss. The concerts in Brooklyn and Albany will be special events with readings offered by individuals drawn from these faith communities.

The Singers’ concerts will also feature composer Thomas Tallis’s motet "Spem in alium;" Sergei Rachmaninov’s "The Mother of God Vigilant in Prayer" (the Choral Concerto); J. S. Bach’s double choir motet "Der Giest hilft unser Schwacheit auf;" and works by Eric Whitacre, Frank Ticheli, Einujani Rautavaara, and Gyorgii Sviridov.

The Singers’ tour schedule will include:

Mar. 15: Chicago: Merit School of Music, 2:30 p.m.

Mar. 17: Philadelphia: Cardinal Dougherty High School, 7:30 p.m.

Mar. 18: Brooklyn, N.Y.: Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 7:30 p.m.

Mar. 19: Albany, N.Y.: First United Unitarian Society of Albany, 7 p.m.

The Grinnell Singers have premiered 15 choral works in the past three years. In 2006, while on tour in Romania, Bulgaria, and Istanbul, the Singers performed the East European premiere of Robert Levin's "Grand Mass in C Minor" by Mozart.

Rommereim, who has directed the Grinnell Singers for 20 years, is a respected composer and scholar of Russian choral music. He has received commissions and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Composers Forum, and the Iowa Arts Council.

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

-30-