Quodlibet is back. After a two-year absence NIACC Vocal Music’s popular pops program returns to the North Iowa Community Auditorium Thursday and Friday, April 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee Sunday, April 24 at 2:00 p.m.
Themed “Songs We Know by Heart” the Concert Choir and NIACC Singers will bring great memorable songs to life with their own flare. Starting with “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma and ending with “Lean on Me.” Songs by artists from Billy Joel to Garth Brooks, the Spice Girls and many more will also be included.
“We are super excited to bring the show back to North Iowa. We have a great group of freshmen led by a pair of returners who stuck out the Covid layoff. It has been a rebuilding year getting the program on its feet again and the students are ready to showcase what they’ve learned,” said NIACC Director of Choral Activities, Jayson Ryner.
The faces have all changed from the students who last appeared in Quodlibet in 2019. The show was cancelled all together in 2020 and played to family and friends only with limited seating in 2021. Ryner was on sabbatical that semester and the show had a great deal of limitations due to the pandemic.
According to Ryner, the 2020 production was loaded with talent that never had the chance to reach the stage. Those students have moved on to major in music, music therapy and opera performance at schools like Wartburg and Minnesota State Duluth. Also cancelled in 2020 was a scheduled Caribbean Cruise that set the program back financially as well.
“We are about half way to fully rebuilt following the pandemic. Without any real model of what the expectations are of performing at this level the students have done an awesome job of putting together an entertaining show.” Said Ryner.
Ryner added, “What the students and the program need now are the people in the community to come out and support them both through ticket purchases and applause. It is fun to perform and even more fun to perform for a crowded house. With the community’s support we can recover financially along with rewarding and encouraging students to return for their sophomore year after experiencing a great Quodlibet audience.”
Tickets for this year’s Quodlibet are $10 for adults and $7 for students and available at either Mason City HyVee location, the NIACC Box Office and at the door.
