The Hiram College Madrigal Singers will present a concert on Saturday, March 8, 7:30 p.m. at Catholic Church of The Redeemer, 8275 Meadowbridge Road in Mechanicsville, VA. This is one of a series of winter concerts the group is performing on their Winter Tour. The singers will give two performances in Washington D.C. at the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center and at The National Cathedral. They will also perform in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio.

Included on the program will be choral music of all styles and periods, both sacred and secular. Featured composers will include Byrd, Bach, Monteverdi, Estevez, Vulpius, Nystedt, and Christiansen. There will be compositions in Latin, German, Italian, and Spanish. The program will also include a group of madrigals, folk song arrangements, and popular standards.

The Hiram College Madrigal Singers, a vocal chamber ensemble of 17 voices selected from the College Choir, is one of seven music ensembles on the Hiram campus. The Madrigal Singers are most noted for their "Yuletide Revels," an elaborate recreation of a Renaissance festival, a 34 year tradition on the campus. During the spring term, the Madrigal Singers perform vocal chamber music of all types from early music to vocal jazz.

True to the liberal arts tradition the singers in the group come from various college departments. The seventeen students who make up this year's ensemble have majors in computer science, chemical physics, music, biology, biomedical humanities, communications, political science, integrated social science, English and theatre arts,

John Drotleff, the conductor of the Madrigal Singers, has been on the faculty for five years. Mr. Drotleff has conducted choirs in Northeastern Ohio for the past forty years in middle school, high school, college, church and community settings and has served as a guest conductor and clinician for numerous musical groups and educational organizations. He is past president of the Ohio Choral Director's Association.

Founded in 1850, Hiram College is a nationally recognized liberal arts college known for distinctive programs and academic excellence. The campus is an academic village of 263 acres with red-brick buildings and historical homes in Hiram, Ohio, 35 miles from Cleveland. Hiram College grants the Bachelor of Arts degree. Its distinctive 12-3 academic calendar is known as the Hiram Plan. Each semester includes a 12-week session for extended coursework and a 3-week session devoted to seminar-style classes and intensive experiences on and off campus. Enrollment is 900 students, most in the top 20 percent of their high school graduating class. Minority and international students make up 16 percent of the student body. Faculty includes 81 full-time professors with 95% holding the Ph.D. or other terminal degree. The student/faculty ratio is 12:1, while the average class size is 16.