Composer on campus for masterwork concert

Iowa composer Elaine Hagenberg will be in residence at Cornell College for rehearsals of her masterwork, “Illuminare,” to be performed Oct. 10 by Cornell’s Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, and Orchestra, together with Mount Vernon High School’s Concert Choir.

Their performance of the five-movement work will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, at Mount Vernon High School’s Performing Arts Center. Admission is free and open to the public. 

Cornell Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Music Chris Nakielski will conduct the work, which is Hagenberg’s first masterwork. She will be in residence that week visiting music classes at Cornell, giving a lunchtime talk, and leading choral rehearsals at Mount Vernon High School and at Cornell. 

“Illuminare” is Hagenberg’s first extended work, consisting of five movements for SATB chorus and chamber orchestra. Using lesser-known sacred Latin, Greek, and English texts, the piece takes the listener through a season of beauty and goodness that has been disrupted by darkness and confusion. But as light gradually returns, hope is restored, illuminating the future and guiding in peace.

The performance of “Illuminare” can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/@GoMVStangs