The concert will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Ley Theatre.
Wayne State College will present “Tapestry of Voices: An Evening of Choirs” at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 22, in Ley Theatre, located on the second floor of Brandenburg Hall. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
The concert will also be livestreamed.
It will feature performances by Lyrica, Fortis, and the Wayne State Concert Choir and Chamber Choir. The concert will be conducted by Dr. Matthew Armstrong, professor of music at Wayne State, with staff pianist Shelly Armstrong.
The evening will begin with performances by Lyrica and Fortis. An intermission will follow at approximately 8 p.m., with Concert Choir and Chamber Choir beginning at approximately 8:15 p.m. Because of limited seating, the exact start time for the second portion of the concert will be announced after intermission. Audience members are welcome to attend both portions of the concert or to attend either portion according to their schedules. Out of courtesy to the performers, guests are asked to remain for the entirety of the portion they choose to attend.
Lyrica’s program will include “Old Joe Clark,” an a cappella arrangement of the well-known American folk song. The arrangement uses vocal accompaniment to imitate bluegrass instrumental sounds. Lyrica will also premiere “How Do You Sleep?”, a new work with words and music by Norah Armstrong and arranged by Shelly Armstrong. The contemporary pop-influenced piece explores a pensive text that may resonate with young people facing difficult thoughts and experiences.
Fortis will perform “Rock-a My Soul,” a traditional African American spiritual first documented and published in the 1867 collection Slave Songs of the United States. The ensemble will also perform “I Had a Dream, Dear,” featuring the ringing dominant seventh chords characteristic of the barbershop style.
Lyrica and Fortis will join together to close the first portion of the concert with two selections: “Deep River,” arranged by R. Nathaniel Dett, and “An Earth Song,” a setting of a Langston Hughes text by Marques L. A. Garrett.
Dett’s setting of “Deep River” is a renowned a cappella arrangement of the traditional African American spiritual. A Canadian-American composer, Dett was an important figure in the development of American concert music and is recognized for incorporating African American folk-music traditions into European art-music forms.
“An Earth Song” sets poetry by celebrated American poet Langston Hughes for choir and was composed by Dr. Marques Garrett, conductor of the 2026 Nebraska Music Educators Association’s All State Choir.
The Chamber Choir will present a diverse selection that includes a jazz waltz arrangement of Carole King’s “Music,” the contemporary a cappella work “Never Let Go,” and “Love Is Love” by Matthew J. Armstrong.
The Concert Choir will perform the Korean folk song “Ong-Hye-Ya,” the Kyrie from Missa Brevis by Baroque composer Antonio Lotti, along with other favorite and traditional choral selections.
An Evening of Choirs will showcase a broad range of choral traditions and styles, from folk songs and spirituals to barbershop, jazz, contemporary a cappella, and classical repertoire.