The BJU Chorale will present its fall concert, titled “Songs of the Journey,” tonight in War Memorial Chapel at 6:30 and 8 p.m.

Dr. Warren Cook directs the 59-member chorale, known on campus especially for its a capella singing.

According to Dr. Cook, tonight’s concert will include sacred songs, traditional spirituals and folk songs. Several students will sing solos, and one piece includes guitar accompaniment.

“These pieces tell short stories about the journey of life,” Dr. Cook said. “Stories about life and love and friends, its sadness and its successes.”

The concert’s opening piece, “O Vos Omnes,” is based on Lamentations 1:12, which says, “All you who pass along this way, behold and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.”

The Chorale will also perform a section of folk songs that focus on love and relationships, Dr. Cook said.

First-year chorale member Amanda Porter said her favorite piece the choir will perform is “Loch Lomond,” a traditional Scottish song about two Scottish soldiers, arranged by Jonathan Quick.

Porter, a senior communication major, enjoys singing as both a hobby and a ministry. Although her major doesn’t involve music, she has a zeal for singing and loves to participate in the choir. “I really like that [Chorale] isn’t just for music majors or minors because then I wouldn’t be able to [participate in] it,” she said.

The section of traditional spirituals features the campus premiere of “I Know Moon-Rise,” written by 2008 BJU graduate Jess Turner.

Turner earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in trumpet performance at the University and is pursuing a doctorate in music composition at Indiana University.

Students are invited to attend one of the two identical 50-minute performances tonight. “I would like [the audience] to have, primarily, an enjoyable experience hearing music, old and new, that speaks to them,” Dr. Cook said. “And in this case, music that speaks to them about life, life that is centered on God and life centered on the relationships and experiences that God has ordained.”

Free tickets to both concerts are available at the Music Library in the Gustafson Fine Arts Center and at Programs and Productions in Rodeheaver Auditorium.