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School of Music Ensembles Invited to Carnegie Hall

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The CSUF University Singers and University Symphony Orchestra will have an enviable opportunity to work with and interpret the works of composer Tarik O’Regan at a Nov. 15 performance in Carnegie Hall.

Distinguished Concerts International New York, the presenting organization, invited both ensembles to serve as the concert’s artistic core. Robert Istad, professor of music and director of choral studies, will direct both ensembles as they perform O’Regan’s works; according to Istad, the composer specifically requested the University Singers be featured in the performance.

The orchestra will play its own set under the direction of Kimo Furumoto, associate professor of music.

Nine CSUF students also will have the opportunity to sing solo material during the performance. The students will work directly with O’Regan, whose music has been recorded by renowned choruses around the world.

“The reality of a musician is that we spend a lot of time studying the music of composers before us. We only have the scholarly writings, the score that the music is written on, and the interpretations of other performers who have tackled the work before us to inform us in the development of our own interpretation,” says master of music student Jason Pano, a member of the University Singers.

“Work on Tarik O’Regan’s music adds an entire layer of interest since the composer is alive and able to provide us with insights for our performances. Composers are the people who create and communicate a message through their music; we are merely the interpreters. So it is very exciting for us as students to have the composer around help us mold the most accurate depiction of his message.”

O’Regan has a new orchestral album with the Hallé Orchestra, is presenting the North American premiere of his opera “Heart of Darkness” and will soon premiere a full-length ballet for the Dutch National Ballet.

He also is writing a 30-minute choral/orchestral work for Cal State Fullerton’s School of Music to premiere in Meng Concert Hall in 2017.