On May 9th, Kansas Public Radio’s Classical Live Performance Studio is scheduled to air a live performance featuring five original compositions from composer Brian J. Nelson as performed by the Benedictine College Chamber Singers.

Scheduled for the Program’s 11 a.m. hour, the program will be heard across the KPR network, including translator in Atchison at 89.9 FM.

The Chamber Singers have collaborated with Nelson before and the ensemble performs under the direction of Ruth Krusemark, Professor and Chair of the Music Department and Head of the Division of Arts and Communication at Benedictine College.

Nelson’s featured original choral works range from three anthems sung a capella, to settings of Mass texts sung by the full-choir with keyboard for the radio-debut of the Mass of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, Op. 21. The piece was commissioned in 2011 by The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

KPR’s 16-minute-long Classical Live broadcast will conclude with Psalm 100, featuring piano, recorder and choir members.

Nelson comments that this was a commission for the dedication of a Church and the soprano recorder was specifically requested as part of the instrumentation, which “adds a very human, Old Testament ‘strings-and-pipes’ feel to the work.”  

Brian Nelson is a 2011 graduate of the KU School of Music with a DMA in composition.