Broadway singer Marcus Nance to perform at Randolph

UPDATE: Due to flight cancellations caused by forecasts of impending snow, the master class and recital with Marcus Nance have been canceled.

A renowned Broadway baritone will teach Randolph students how to improve their vocal performance as well as give a public recital of his own next week.

Randolph College is hosting Marcus Nance, who frequently performs in musicals and operas, for two public appearances Feb. 12–13. Randall Speer, a Randolph music professor, invited Nance to perform and also to teach Randolph students about the realities of a music career.

Speer and Nance actually attended college together. “He was always the consummate performer,” Speer said. “At the undergraduate level, he had already demonstrated a lot of potential, and within a few years he was performing professionally.”

When Speer took the Randolph College Chorale to perform in Carnegie Hall in 2012, he arranged for students to meet with Nance, who was performing the role of Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway, and learn about what it is like to be a professional singer. Speer wanted to invite Nance to campus so more students could interact with him.

Nance’s public performances will begin with a master class at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 12. Four students will perform works from musical theatre or opera. In front of the audience, Nance will work with each student to immediately improve aspects of the performance.

A master class offers a unique opportunity to the audience, Speer said. “It’s sort of like getting a glimpse on the voice or performance studio,” he said. “The audience glimpses the nuts and bolts of the craft, in addition to seeing some fine performances.”

At 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 13, Nance will present a recital in cabaret style.

Both the master class and the recital will be held in Wimberly Recital Hall, and both are free and open to the public.

Randolph music groups prepared for upcoming concerts

Infused with new talent and energy, Randolph’s student music groups are looking forward to exciting concerts this year. The music begins with two Family Weekend concerts on Friday and Saturday, but it will continue with better and more challenging music as the year goes on.

Each group had record numbers of students audition, including many talented first-year students who will add their talents to the groups for the next four years.

Family Weekend Concerts

A Cappella Concert

featuring Songshine and Voices
Friday, Sept. 27, 4 p.m., Hampson Commons

Music Department Showcase

featuring Chorale and Touch of Harmony
Saturday, Sept. 28, 4 p.m., Wimberly Recital Hall

“In addition to having more performers, we actually have more accomplished musicians overall, too,” said Randall Speer, a music professor and conductor. “All of the groups are doing some pretty impressive repertoire.”

The additional talent is opening possibilities for performing musical pieces that Speer has wanted to introduce to the groups for some time.

Chorale, the College’s premiere performing ensemble, now has 26 students, including 16 first-year students and more male voices than the group has ever had. During the Family Weekend music department showcase, Chorale will perform a piece by Eric Whitacre, a popular American composer whose music often splits into eight different complex harmonies. This requires enough musicians to handle the complexity with confidence. “This Chorale can do that,” Speer said.

Chorale rehearses for their upcoming Family Weekend concert.

Touch of Harmony, a jazz group, is now at full capacity. They will perform Icarus, a jazz piece that Speer has always hoped to have a College group perform.

Voices and Songshine, Randolph’s student-run a cappella groups, also had incredible auditions. Each group has been working to prepare pieces for a concert on Friday of Family Weekend. “We’re really looking forward to our first major performance of the year,” said Chelsea Fox, president of Songshine.

Randolph’s Chamber Orchestra, created less than two years ago, now has 10 student musicians, including two local high school students. Although they do not have a concert on Family Weekend like the other ensembles, they have started learning a demanding symphony to be performed alongside a professional orchestra later this year. They also will perform with chorale in Christmas Vespers.

Speer is excited to see the way each student’s musical talent grows as they approach new challenges that come from complex and interesting music, rather than coming from smaller numbers.

“The literature itself is the thing that is really providing the vast majority of the challenge,” Speer said. “They can take pride in the fact that they’re learning this together and we’re going to do it.”

Randall Speer wins Davidson Award

Randall Speer, associate professor of music, was named as the recipient of the Katherine Graves Davidson Award during Convocation ceremonies August 31, 2010 at Randolph College.

The award is given annually to a faculty member who has brought distinction to the College.

"This year's winner has had a significant impact on our community," said Dennis Stevens, dean of the college, in announcing the award. "Not only is he a respected teacher, but he has enriched our lives by his contributions to the cultural life of the college and the greater Lynchburg community."

In the past year, Speer has published two original choral works, organized and directed the collaborative production of Mozart's Requiem, and led a student Summer Research team in a project to catalog the College's music archives. Speer serves as director of the Randolph College Chorale and the Touch of Harmony vocal jazz ensemble. He has composed original works for Randolph College theatre productions and served as a judge for community music competitions.

Speer has taken the power of music to Westminster Canterbury, and he has brought the power of music to Randolph College students in his international study seminar in Austria, Italy, and Bulgaria.

"A colleague says that he is affable, quick to laugh, optimistic, cheerful, never complains, and works incredibly hard," said Stevens.

The Katherine Graves Davidson Award was established in 1975 to honor Trustee Emerita Katherine Graves Davidson, '35. The award has been made possible by gifts from Mr. and Mrs. J. Wilson Newman in recognition of the services rendered to private education by Mrs. Davidson and her husband, Frank G. Davidson. It is given annually to a faculty member who has brought distinction to the college. The recipient is chosen by a committee of local alumni, in consultation with the Dean of the College.