(Submitted photo) A cappella choirs of Shepherd will take the stage April 8 to perform their annual spring choral concert.

At 8 p.m. on April 8, the a cappella choirs of Shepherd University take to the Frank Center Theater stage for their annual Spring choral concert. The Men’s Choir, Women’s Camerata and Chamber Singers will present some unaccompanied music from the last century.

This concert, unlike most others, has a clear centerpiece. The Chamber Singers will be tackling one of the two most important a cappella choral works of the 20th century, Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir. Together with Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, the Martin Mass is considered to be the greatest monument of unaccompanied choral music of the modern age.

The Chamber Singers, is a mostly a cappella ensemble, concentrating in masterpieces of the 20th century. The ensemble is made up of between 20 and 24 students each year.

Shepherd University’s Women’s Camerata is an ensemble of 30 to 35 female singers, comprised of voice majors, music majors, and many students from other disciplines at Shepherd University. The Men’s Choir is an ensemble of 12 to 15 male voices singing jazz, doo-wop, barbershop and classical male choir literature.

Erik Reid Jones is the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Shepherd University and founder and artistic director of the Master Singers of Virginia.

General admission to the A Cappella Concert is $10; $5 for faculty, staff and students 18 and under; and free to Shepherd University students and Friends of Music MAC cardholders.

Admission and seating is first-come first-serve basis and advance reservations are not accepted. The box office opens one hour prior to performance. For information call the concertline at 304-876-5555, or visit the website at www.shepherd.edu/musicweb.

– From staff reports