Collaborative performance by Orchestra at MC, MC Community Chorus set for Nov. 8
Nov. 4, 2022
The two new directors of Maryville College music ensembles look at their forthcoming Nov. 8 concert as a test drive, but they already recognize the potential for greatness down the road.
Dr. Dwight Dockery ’05 and Dr. Ace Edewards, recently appointed conductors of the Maryville College Community Chorus and the Orchestra and Maryville College, respectively, will present a combined concert of both groups on Tuesday, Nov. 8, at the Clayton Center for the Arts on the MC campus. Given their recent appointments to leadership positions in the organizations, there hasn’t been a lot of time for elaborate programming plans, they said.
“Ace and I talked early on, and we both understand that for this concert, it’s important to get a sense of our ensembles and where they are right now, so we know where to rebuild and move forward from that,” Dockery said. “He’s sort of doing one half of the concert, and I’m doing one half, which I think is going to be a really good way to introduce us to these roles, and also a good way to kind of plant our feet for a little bit before we start getting too adventuresome.”
After earning a degree in Music Theory-Composition from MC, Dockery went on to obtain his master’s in Choral Conducting from East Carolina University and a doctorate in Conducting from the University of South Carolina. Edewards received a bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from California State University-Sacramento, a double master’s in Conducting and Vocal Performance from the University of Denver and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Arizona.
Although both men have extensive experience in the local classical music scene — Edewards is the founding conductor of Knoxville’s Scruffy City Orchestra and a veteran of both Marble City Opera and Knoxville Opera, while Dockery is the director of music at First United Methodist Church of Maryville after serving in a number of directing and conducting capacities throughout the Carolinas — assuming control of the orchestra and community chorus marked a new chapter for both, Edewards said.
“This performance will be the debut for the conductors as well, and as such both of us were wondering, what ensemble do we have to work with? Not knowing who was going to be in the ensemble made it tricky to choose the repertoire,” Edewards said. “In discussing pieces for the orchestra, we went with a standard set of pieces which can be quite challenging but are still a lot of fun.”
For its portion of the concert, the Orchestra and Maryville College will perform Excerpts from the Carmen Suites by Bizet; “Chanson de Nuit et Chanson de Matin, Op. 15,” by Elgar; the first movement of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8; and “Can-Can” from Orphée aux enfers by Offenbach.
During its portion of the performance, the Maryville College Community Chorus will sing selections by Schubert (“An die Musik”), David Dickau’s “If Music Be the Food of Love,” Handel’s “Music, Spread Thy Voice Around” from Solomon, Elaine Hagenberg’s “Refuge,” Gabriel Fauré’s “Cantique de Jean Racine, op. 11,” Gerlad Finzi’s “My Spirit Sang All Day,” Craig Hella Johnson’s “Gitanjali Chants” and Martin Shaw’s “With a Voice of Singing.” The chorus will be accompanied by Dockery’s fellow MC alum, Jennifer Olander Anderson ’05, on piano.
“The choral side is all about a celebration of the interaction of text and music, so that each of the pieces we’re going to sing, in some way they kind of celebrate or comment on the joys of music, or the joys of great words that we get to sing,” Dockery said. “It’s sort of a nice smorgasbord of that, along with a variety of cultures represented and a variety of time periods represented.”
In addition to providing music as a balm for those eager for concerts after two years of schedules hampered by COVID-19 restrictions and cancellations, the concert will also serve to showcase performance opportunities for local players, Edewards added: He hopes to fill a few empty seats in the ensemble, which will strengthen the group’s power and make more complex selections more achievable.
“I have a few ideas for next semester, and I hope this concert will show potential players that it’s a great ensemble to participate in,” he said. “We want our players to enjoy themselves while working on great repertoire. We’ve got a great group of players, and we’re looking at a repertoire that will be wonderful to perform with them.”
Dockery echoes that sentiment and emphasizes the importance of carrying on a tradition that holds special meaning to him as a Maryville College alumnus.
“It’s kind of an awesome responsibility,” he said. “It’s both a job and something I take very seriously as being part of a lineage of folks whom I respect greatly and for whom I have great admiration.”
The Orchestra at Maryville College and the Maryville College Community Chorus will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center for the Arts. Tickets are $5 for adults, seniors and area students, and admission is free for MC students, faculty and staff. For more information or to secure tickets, call the Clayton Center box office at 865-981-8590.