Stetson concert to honor memory of Paul Langston

A concert to honor the memory of Paul Langston, former dean of the School of Music, will be held 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 15 in Lee Chapel. It will feature Earnest Murphy, Jr., tenor, and Boyd Jones, Price Professor of Organ.
A concert to honor the memory of Paul Langston (pictured above), former dean of the School of Music, will be held 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 15 in Lee Chapel. It will feature Earnest Murphy, Jr., tenor, and Boyd Jones, Price Professor of Organ.

Stetson University’s School of Music will honor the memory of the late Paul Langston, former music dean, who passed away Dec. 20, with a recital at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 15 in Lee Chapel, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand. This special event will feature Stetson musicians, Earnest Murphy, Jr., tenor, and Boyd Jones, university organist and Price Professor of Organ. The public is invited.

Langston, dean of Stetson University’s School of Music from 1962-85, was a substantial figure in the development of the School of Music at Stetson. A music educator, organist, administrator and composer, he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger, French composer who taught many of the leading musicians of the 20th century. Langston’s works include a hymn in the 1975 Baptist Hymnal (“ERIN” 1974) as well as the anthem “God of Grace and God of Glory” (1957), a publication still available today. Langston was honored with an honorary doctorate from Stetson in 1985, the Hand Award for outstanding research in 1993, and the McEniry Award for teaching excellence in 1991.

The March 15 concert will include music by composers of the 17th century and earlier, including Henry Purcell, John Dowland, Robert Jones, Tobias Hume, Thomas Morley and William Byrd, as well as contemporary musicians including, former Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

General admission is $10; $8 for seniors; and $5 for area students. It is free to Stetson students, faculty and staff with ID, and for concert series card holders. For tickets and information, contact Stetson’s School of Music at (386) 822-8950, or www2.stetson.edu/music. To see Stetson’s full cultural calendar, click here.