Centre News

CentreBrass and Centre Singers, directed by professors Vince
DiMartino and Barbara Hall, respectively, will perform in
concert together on March 13 in Weisiger Theatre. The musical
groups will go on a musical tour of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
later this year.

The Centre Singers and CentreBrass will perform together in a convocation, “Centre Singers and CentreBrass a Mexico,” at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13 in Weisiger Theatre. The concert will feature music the two groups will perform together in an upcoming musical tour of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

“The music that is being performed by both groups consists of a great variety—really something for everyone, from spiritual pieces to fanfares to classics in both the choral and brass repertoire,” says David Jaffe ’12, a member of the CentreBrass.

Barbara Hall, H.W. Stodghill Jr. and Adele H. Stodghill Professor of Music and director of the Centre Singers, became interested in doing a tour when Vince DiMartino, George Matton Professor of Music and director of the CentreBrass, announced that he’d be retiring after the current school year.

“Barbara and I wanted to do one more tour together,” DiMartino says. “We had been to France and Germany and most recently to Greece. We discussed it and thought it would be nice for a few more Centre students and us to see Merida.”

“The Centre Singers and CentreTrumpets had toured internationally together twice in the past and had found the sharing of music really brought the two groups together in mutual respect. So we decided to make one final trip together—this time with CentreBrass,” Hall says. “We've had a good history of touring from Strasbourg, so the campus at Merida was an attractive option.”

The students in each musical group are highly anticipating the tour.

“I am most looking forward to using music as a means of communication across a language barrier,” says Centre Singer David Newton ’15. “I have always loved the idea of playing music for and with other people who speak a different language. I think there is something special and powerful about the language of music that surpasses spoken languages and I definitely look forward to this experience.”

“There are so many wonderful things I'm looking forward to about our trip—first and foremost, to spread the love of music that all of us performing share,” Jaffe says. “I'm really excited to have a wonderful time with the Centre Singers and CentreBrass. My first year at Centre, I was lucky enough to travel to Greece with the Centre Singers and CentreTrumpets. A lot of everlasting bonds were formed, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity for that to occur again.”

The tour of the Yucatan will give everyone involved the opportunity to do more than perform concerts.

“These tours are always a combination of concerts and cultural exploration. Not only will we do formal concerts but we'll also be doing an exchange with a university and working with children in a rural area,” says Hall. “These tours give us the opportunity to get to know our students much better and for them to develop new and deeper friendships based on a love of music.”

Jaffe and Newton look forward to performing at the convocation next week.

“I always hope people attend all the music events to support my fellow musicians and me, but this concert will be particularly special,” Jaffe says. “We've been preparing for this tour since the beginning of the school year, and I'm confident that will show.”

“I hope that people come to our concert next week so that we can come together as people from different cultures and languages to enjoy the universal beauty of music together,” says Newton.

For a full list of convocations this spring semester, click here.

Have comments, suggestions, or story ideas? E-mail elizabeth.trollinger@centre.edu with your feedback.

Centre College, founded in 1819 and chosen to host its second Vice Presidential Debate in 2012, is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges, at 42nd in the nation, and ranks 27th for best value among national liberal arts colleges. Forbes magazine ranks Centre 34th among all the nation’s colleges and universities and has named Centre in the top five among all institutions of higher education in the South for three years in a row. Centre is also ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News for its study abroad program. For more, click here.