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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • Eight male singers wearing sport jackets and button-up shirts smile for the camera.
  • Eight male singers wearing sport jackets and button-up shirts stand in a huddle and smile at the photographer.

Cantus
Alone Together

7:30 pm Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Cantus, which last performed at Penn State in 2014, has been called “the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.” The group returns to perform Alone Together, an introspective look at what it means to connect in our modern world.

By almost any measure, our ability to communicate has never been easier or more advanced. Yet, as the world grows exponentially smaller with new technologies, the rifts between nations, among communities, and in individual relationships only seem to widen. Exploring the struggle to build meaningful connection in a world that has never been more connected, Alone Together is anchored by a multi-movement setting of a Walt Whitman poem, “We Two,” by Steven Sametz. The program is also informed by David Lang’s modern exploration of yearning in his “Manifesto.”

The world premiere of the multi-movement piece You by Grammy Award-winning composer Libby Larsen, co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts through its membership in the Music Accord consortium, helps to celebrate a reaffirmation of our humanity through communication and a recognition of our universal need for understanding and acceptance.

Alone Together also includes music by Arcade Fire, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sydney Guillaume, Jennifer Higdon, Lennon/McCartney, Dave Matthews, Don McDonald, Ingrid Michaelson, Laura Mvula, Pasek and Paul, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Simon and Garfunkel.

Artistic Viewpoints will not be offered before this performance, but artists will engage in conversation with audience members after the concert.

Adult $44
University Park Student $15
18 and Younger $34

general admission seating

Tickets are available for purchase at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the evening of the performance, but only cash or checks can be accepted at the concert venue.

sponsors
Chick King and Betty Scott

support provided by
Pieter and Lida Ouwehand Endowment

Artist Websites: 

Secondary Events on Each Event

Classical Coffeehouse
featuring Cantus and Libby Larsen

8:00 pm Monday, September 24, 2018

Hintz Family Alumni Center’s Robb Hall

Classical Coffeehouse is free for University Park students.


A $10 donation is suggested for each community member. Donations help to sustain the coffeehouse series.

Presented by the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and the Penn State Alumni Association in partnership with the Blue & White Society, the PSU Music Service Club, and the Penn State Coffee Club.

Hailed as “the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States,” Cantus is acknowledged around the world for its programmatic versatility, artistic excellence, and charisma.

Cantus will perform a mini concert of selected works. Also, Grammy Award winner Libby Larsen will discuss “You,” her new composition that will have its world premiere performance as part of Cantus' September 25 concert at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.

Enjoy complimentary snacks and beverages. Seating is limited. Standing room is available when seating is full. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

A Conversation with Libby Larsen

12:00 pm Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Room 110 Music Building I

Free and open to the public

Bring your lunch and join Penn State School of Music faculty and students for a seventy-five-minute conversation with Grammy Award-winning composer Libby Larsen. One of America’s most-performed living composers, Larsen has written more than 500 works in a variety of genres. Cantus will perform the world premiere of Larsen’s You, a multi-movement work, later that day at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.