IU singers take on Beethoven piece

"On the word, 'umschlungen,' I want you to embrace your neighbor with the warm sound," conductor and professor of music David Effron said to the Oratorio Choir at its rehearsal Wednesday evening. Appreciative sniggers from the students broke the otherwise intense, rich sound. Several singers took Effron's orders literally and hugged those standing next to them.\nIronically, the German word "umschlungen," roughly translates to "entwine" in English. This Sunday will be one large "intertwined" performance. Various ensembles that combine different ages, nationalities and talents will come together for one day to celebrate symphonic music.\nThe IU Jacobs School of Music Oratorio Choir and the Philharmonic Orchestra will conclude the day of symphonic music with a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at 8 p.m. at the Musical Arts Center. The choir is comprised of several different choral ensembles including the Singing Hoosiers, the Pro Arte Singers and All-Campus Choir. They will be joined by the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, which will also perform separately at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall and the Musical Arts Youth Orchestra, which will also hold a separate performance at 4 p.m. Sunday in the IU Auditorium.\nThe BSO is in its 36th season. The 50 to 60 members range from high school students to retired musicians in their 80s. The Orchestra's mission is to offer the community "serious" music and to "offer a professional environment for performing that music for both amateurs and professionals," according to its Web site, www.bloomington.in.us/~bso/. This will be its annual spring concert. Michael Simmons, the president of the BSO board, explained that they were asked to re-schedule their concert time so as to not conflict with the MAYO performance. \nMAYO was created for exceptional young musicians three years ago. More than 70 students from the ages of 8 to 21 perform under director Thomas Lowenheim here in Bloomington. This year, students in the international MAYO program have come from France, Israel and Hong Kong to perform with the American musicians. \nSeveral Bloomington families volunteered to take the foreign students into their homes this week, while the children attended master's classes on the IU campus and toured Bloomington. Board president Julie Copeland described the families' generosity as "another kind of collaboration."\nThe students' visit will culminate in Sunday's \nperformance. \n"The kids are glowing," Copeland said, "They are 12 hours off of their sleep schedules, but they are too excited to sleep."\nAll of Sunday's events are free. \n"I've always advocated collaboration between arts programs," Simmons said. "It's really great that were able to work together."\nCopeland agreed, "It is just another result of the abundance of great cultural events that we have in this crazy city"