Knox College Choir, May 2

The Knox College Choir presents its Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 2 in Kresge Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, on the Knox campus in Galesburg, Illinois. The concert is free and open to the public.

Directed by Laura Lane, professor of music, the Choir will perform Missa Brevis in F by Mozart and "Lux Aeterna" by Morten Lauridsen, and the Knox College Chamber Singers will perform several English madrigals.

"Missa Brevis, Latin for 'short holy mass,' is an incredibly creative, rhythmic and tuneful work -- and it was also Mozart's first position as a composer," Lane said. "Legend has it that the archbishop of the cathedral of Salzburg didn't like music and told Mozart to keep the mass under 15 minutes. Even though Mozart was only 18, he was already a skilled composer, and he was trying to express as many ideas as he could, in the short time he was given."

Fourteen student soloists will be featured in the work. Accompaniment is by Amber Clark, piano; Melissa Morrow and Katie Hoth, violins; and Carolyn Suda, cello.

Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna" received its Midwest premiere by the Knox College Choir in 1998. "It is one of the most popular contemporary choral works," Lane said. "It also has an organ accompaniment, which gives us an opportunity to feature our outstanding accompanist, Amber Clark, and the great pipe organ that we have in Kresge Hall." The work was commissioned and premiered by the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1997.

The 59-voice Knox College recently completed a ten-day concert tour of Catalonia, its fourth tour of Spain since 1991. Five of the Choir's CDs are available in the Knox College Bookstore. A Knox College faculty member since 1983, Lane is an award-winning choral conductor and the founder and director of Nova Singers, a professional vocal ensemble.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.