After the excitement of winning the grand prize in the Florilege Vocal de Tours International Choir Competition last year, the University of Utah Singers will start this year's concert season on a high note.

"The big news is that we'll be releasing our newest CD, the third in our series, called 'A Jubilant Song,' "said conductor Brady Allred. "It's music that we took on tour with us to Europe and actually recorded in Munich, Germany. It was after we had just won the big competition in France. So there's a sense of excitement on the recording."

The music on this concert program, though, said Allred, will not be a repeat of the CD — with one exception. "The one piece that we will include on Saturday is a special piece that we commissioned for the competition by a New York composer named William Hawley, and that we've called 'Flos ut Rosa Floruit.' And it was written for double choir. So we premiered it in Europe, but we haven't premiered it here yet."

Allred added that Saturday's performance will be a bit of a sneak preview of the piece; its official premiere here won't be until the Utah Choral Artists concert on Oct. 29, when the University of Utah singers will join with five other choirs.

Most of the repertoire for Saturday's concert, said Allred, will be American folk music — which has also been recorded for release on a CD later this year or early next year. Music by Stephen Foster, African-American spirituals, American-folk love songs and a sampling of classical offerings will be on the program.

Another interesting aspect to this concert, said Allred, is the collaboration with Cottonwood High School madrigals, under the direction of Erin Pike. "I decided that although there has been a little bit of outreach from the universities to the high schools, in most places, the university professors are in an ivory tower, and there's not always the collaboration that should be going on — especially to introduce music students to what's happening at the university.

"I tried to, this year, invite different high school choirs in the area to come and experience the beautiful Libby Gardner Concert Hall. . . . It's an artistic experience for them, and it's good for my students to hear these high school groups, especially since many of them will teach high school. And we hope it's good for the high school singers to hear the college students, to see what they can aspire to. To perform together, I think, is important."

If you go

What: University of Utah Singers

Where: Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah

When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.

How much: $7

Phone: 581-7100

Web: www.kingsburyhall.com

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E-mail: rcline@desnews.com