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PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon State University will bring an annual event, "Sing Out: The Orange & Black Choral and Vocal Scholarship Concert," to Portland on Sunday, April 21.

The concert, previously held only in Corvallis, benefits the Orange & Black Scholarship Fund, which helps OSU music programs attract and maintain talented singers to study vocal performance and choral music education.

It features the best that the award winning OSU vocal program has to offer, including performances by OSU Meistersingers, Bella Voce, and Chamber Choir, with instrumental accompaniment and soloists.

The event will be at 4 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 1200 S.W. Alder St. Admission is $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Advance tickets are available for purchase at TicketTomato.com. A limited number of free student tickets will be available at the door while seats last.

"This concert features Oregon State's three premier choral ensembles in a performance to raise funds for scholarships that assist talented singers, many who come from Portland area high schools," said Steven Zielke, director of choral studies. "It's a great opportunity for us to share the quality of our program with our friends in Portland, and for our friends and alumni there to support a great cause.

"For Beaver fans in the Portland metro area who love singing, this is the 'can't miss' concert of the year," he said.

Highlights will include the OSU women's choir, Bella Voce, performing the premiere of "Viva Sweet Love," by Joan Szymko. The piece was commissioned for Bella Voce with funding from the Oregon State University Women's Giving Circle. The choir will also perform "Wedding Qawwalli" by Ethan Sperry, with choreography by OSU student Daniel Fridley, a senior in music education and assistant conductor of the OSU Meistersingers. Bella Voce, directed by Tina Bull, is a select, 50-member chorus that performs each term and tours regionally and internationally.

The OSU Meistersingers, a 50-member, auditioned men's ensemble, will perform "Dies Irae," by Z. Randall Stroope, conducted by Fridley; the beautiful "Lux Aurumque," by Eric Whitacre; and the traditional Celtic folk piece, "Loch Lomond," featuring soloist Rich Meier, a senior in electrical engineering. The popular choir is conducted by Russell Christensen and performs in concert each term, tours regionally, and frequently entertains at community and campus sporting and special events.

Chamber Choir, OSU's preeminent vocal ensemble, is a mixed voice choir comprised of 47 carefully selected singers, directed by Zielke. The choir will perform Movement One ("O Come, Let Us Worship") of Sergei Rachmaninoff's "All Night Vigil," as well as Morten Lauridsen's "Sure on this Shining Night," and a Mark Butler arrangement of the traditional spiritual, "Signs of the Judgment." The Chamber Choir performs on campus each term and tours regionally or internationally each spring.

As is tradition at many Oregon State University choral events, the audience will have an opportunity to sing along with the choirs on "Carry Me Back," the OSU alma mater song.

In May, all three choirs will head to New York for a tour that includes a performance in Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. That concert will feature three OSU alumni soloists who have launched professional singing careers.