![](https://brocku.ca/brock-news/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Wind-Ensemble-5-1600x763.jpg?x91846)
The end of a semester is the busiest time of the year for the Department of Music. With the 2018 winter semester coming to an end, Brock University’s music department is preparing for three highly anticipated concerts: The Russian Connection, Songs of Inspiration and Fire on Water.
The University Wind Ensemble Series conducted by Brock’s Woodwind instructor Zoltan Kalman presents The Russian Connection Tuesday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (FOPAC). The repertoire for this concert includes musical fireworks such as Moussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Shostakovich’s Festive Overture. The Wind Ensemble brings together university and high school students, as well as members of the Niagara musical community.
The second concert, Songs of Inspiration, presented by the University String Orchestra, takes place in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FOPAC on Wednesday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. This concert, conducted by Brock’s violin instructor George Cleland, will feature well-known masterworks such as Henry Purcell’s Suite for Abdelazar, Samuel Barber’s Adagio and Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite. The Walker String Quartet will join the String Orchestra for a special performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto for four violins in B Minor. The orchestra combines university students of the music program, along with Brock University community members and musicians from across Niagara.
Tickets for The Russian Connection and Songs of Inspiration are $12 for adults, $5 for children 14 and under and $5 under the eyeGo program. Admission is free to current Brock students with a valid ID card.
The third concert held in the Cairns Recital Hall on Sunday, April 8 at 2:30 p.m. is presented by the Department of Music as part of the Viva Voce! Choral Series. The Brock University Choirs, conducted by Brock’s Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music Education Rachel Rensink-Hoff, present their second choral concert of the academic year, Fire on Water. It features performances from the Brock men’s, women’s and co-ed student choral ensembles. The choirs will perform timeless classics and innovative new choral works inspired by the elements. Tickets for Fire on Water are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $5 under the eyeGo program.
Tickets for all three concerts are being sold at the FOPAC box office at 905-688-0722 or online. For more information on these and other events, visit Brock’s Department of Music website.