A feast for the ears and eyes

By Rebecca Kirkman on April 12, 2019

Under vibrant lights projected onto the Harold J. Kaplan Concert Hall stage, Towson University music students perform works like Hank Levy’s “Whiplash,” “Una furtiva lagrima” from the opera The Elixir of Love by Gaetano Donizetti and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Richard Rogers from the musical Carousel.

What brings together musicians from the jazz orchestra, symphonic band and opera? 

They’re rehearsing for Prism: A Musical Collage, a fast-paced concert set to theatrical lighting that will highlight a wide range of styles, ensembles and genres at Harold J. Kaplan Concert Hall on Saturday, April 13 at 8 p.m.

With selections from 19th century opera to 20th century musical theatre, the 70-minute event will feature nearly three-quarters of the majors in the music department. 

“The variety of music represented on the concert is astounding,” says Department of Music Chair Phillip Collister. “There are works by living composers and masterworks by other recognized composers presented on the same concert.”

Multiple ensembles including the university chorale, orchestra, symphonic band, percussion ensemble and jazz orchestra will be featured, along with chamber music, jazz, opera, piano and student composers.

“This concert is a unique opportunity to see multiple facets of our department in a relatively short evening all enhanced with special lighting,” Collister adds.

Prism echoes a production held at Towson University’s Stephens Hall Theatre for nearly a decade in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Called Mosaic, it featured student ensemble performances paired with a multimedia light show. 

A recent upgrade to LED theatrical lighting at the Harold J. Kaplan Concert Hall offers a much wider array of color choices and lighting options. With Prism, the music department will showcase this new technology alongside the creative talents of its students.

The title of the concert is inspired by the large glass prisms in the Center for the Arts Grand Hall. “These prisms cast multiple images of primary colors in the late afternoon sun—the perfect analogy for the multiple musical expressions that are prevalent in our department,” says Collister. “The new lighting in the concert hall also reflects this explosion of musical color that will be presented at the concert.”