The Wayne State University Department of Music proudly presents the 42nd Annual Salute Concert to Downtown Detroit at noon on Thursday, November 20, 2008. This annual free lunchtime concert, which honors the city of Detroit and celebrates the beginning of the holiday season, will feature the WSU Choral Union, conducted by Professor Dennis Tini, Women's Chorale, conducted by Professor Ann Marie Koukios, and Men's Glee Club, conducted by Professor Maurice Draughn.
The program will include "Peace Today Descends from Heaven" by Alessandro Grandi, "There is a Balm in Gilead" by William Dawson, and "The Irish Blessing" arranged by Malcolm M. Johns. Works by Bach, Copland, and Schubert, among many others, will also be performed by the three choral ensembles.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, is at St. John's Episcopal Church of Detroit, located at 50 E. Fisher Freeway in Detroit (corner of Woodward Ave. and Fisher Freeway Service Drive). For additional information call (313) 577-1795 or visit www.music.wayne.edu.
The Annual Salute Concerts, founded by the late Malcolm Johns in 1967, were originally designated as "Thanksgiving" concerts and have grown to be an institution treasured by Wayne State and the Metropolitan Detroit Community.
Founded in 1918, Wayne State University's Department of Music has earned a reputation for excellence in the US and abroad. Many members of the music faculty, including musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and some of the area's finest
jazz and vocal artists, have toured throughout the world as performers, clinicians, conductors and composers. Likewise, students in the department's ensembles have won international competitions, toured Europe and Asia, and enjoyed repeated invitations to perform at major festivals and conferences. The department also is known for its preparation of music educators.
Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 12 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.