“When I first started here back in 2000, I was the only female conductor in the Suburban East Conference” recalled Marie Dymit. When she was in high school her conductor, Lee Carlson, was a male teacher but she remembers him always pushing her to do what she wanted to do in life. He fueled her passion for choir with the passion he put into his choir groups. He was her role model in high school and even now because he is a big part of why she choose to be a choir…
Experiencing these 2 operas, I was able to comprehend the incredible talents of the Auburn University’s Department of Music Opera Workshop performers. Each performance allowed the performers to showcase their vocal talents greatly; as well as showing their strict practicing by knowing the vocal queues with the music as well as with each other to never sound off or un-synced with each other.…
This year the Meeteetse Winter Concert took place in the high school gymnasium, on December 8, at 6:30. Kindergarten through 12th grade participated. The Prekindergarten and Kindergarten sang Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer accompanied by Stanley Ogden. Then Stanley performed Feliz Navidad solo. After that came a majority of Middle school/ Elementary. Finally the High schoolers played Nightmare Before Christmas, Believe, Trombone Under the Tree, and lastly Frosty the Snowman. This concert went fairly smoothly, and we all sounded really good. This years concert was filled beautiful songs, struggles, and in the end had a very merry outcome.…
As the voices of this amazingly blended SAB choir rang out a melody of beauty and sweet serenity. The work they had all put in was defiantly present. I was impressed at the pureness and the strength of the choir. They started with an old syncopated composition called “American folk Rhapsody”. The secular piece had an upbeat rhythm and was voiced with SAB parts accompanied by a piano. Written in the key of F the composition was sung and played in a major mode. On this piece the choir blended very nicely except for a few spots here and there. Overall the ensemble seemed to really enjoy singing this music.…
The fourth through eighth grade choristers enter onto the risers on the stage in organized rows, hands at their sides, shoulders back and aligned with nervous smiles across their faces. This is the students first time being adjudicated The auditorium is full of other students, teachers, and adjudicators from around the city ready to hear the product of weekly after school rehearsals throughout the school year. The chorus director looks around the auditorium and counts five former music instructors and the nostalgia of being that fourth-eighth grader on stage with those instructors floods the director's mind. She smiles, bows to the audience, turns, and gives a reassuring thumbs up to the bright, developing musicians in front of her.…
The tempo was medium-paced, but fairly fast. The dynamics were exceedingly powerful and impactful towards the audience. Both of the male and female voices were equal in distribution and neither of the groups overpowered each other. The members of the choir performed with such aggressive vocals and displayed strong passion; their cheerful attitudes filled the atmosphere of the room. The last few minutes of the program were concluded with a compelling, effective ending.…
“Still I Rise”, by Rosephanye Powell, was the first collegiate choir concert that I have ever attended. I enjoyed the Ball State University Women’s Chorus as well as the Mt. Vernon High School Expressions Women’s Choir. Additionally, I loved that they combined choirs to perform “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “Still I Rise”. I chose to report on “Still I Rise” due to the lyrics of the song and the solo performances. This piece inspired me to persevere through life’s difficulties, especially because it was Women’s Week at Ball State University.…
On Friday, Mar 30, I took part in the Cantabile Girls' Choir Concert, which was performed by Nancy Grundahl, Sandra Enstrom, Jennifer wildeson, etc. It has several parts and all the performers have done very well. The whole concert was really an enjoyment to me. All the performers concentrated on the performance. I think very highly of them.…
A loud “whoosh” echoes throughout the dark distant auditorium, and in an instant huge gleaming lights lower themselves upon the stage. The stage sits empty, lifeless, waiting, listening..listening for one to drop jaws with their all-knowing Mozart Symphony or disappoint with a piece that has no rhythm. With each day a new audience gathers around to join the stage in listening. To some it just may be a song, but to others it is a message, a chapter, a story. A story that throws all of life's up’s, all of life's downs. All of it’s good days, it’s bad days. Everything described on one sheet of paper.. But ultimately that was the audience's choice. The stage waited each day for the next performer, for the next song..With each passing person a new song, a new story told, and here is mine.…
I chose to do my Concert Critique on a local classic rock band, VIVA. The…
As I went and watched the Fall Choral Concert directed by Dr. Jeffrey Benson, I have enjoyed the most wonderful concert with all the amazing performances ever. I picked out these 3 pieces that I have liked the most and wanted to describe it for my performance review this semester.…
It seems that versatility was one of choir director Dr. Charles Clency’s focuses when he picked out the repertoire. The program of the event reads: “A Choral Tapestry. A blend of choral genres: mass, madrigal, oratorio, opera, musical theatre, pop, spirituals, gospel…” and the list goes on. There was versatility even within the choirs themselves. For instance, the first six songs were sung by the Choir of Lake County, but the first four pieces were sung in Latin, French, Russian, and Italian, with mezzo soprano Sheila Bondurant singing Carmen’s solo in Habanera, while the last two were excerpts from the musicals The Phantom of the Opera and Oklahoma. This is quite the contrast. I’ll admit, at first the concert was slow. This could be because of my own preconceived notions on how the concert was going to play out, or it could have been that my preconceived notions were true. The following group caught my attention a little bit better, which was the all-women’s choir who sang a dreamy French piece called Clair de Lune, which translates to “moonlight” in English. Notions of leaving pervaded my thoughts up until the Chamber Singers…
On Sunday, May 5, 20 the UNH Concert Choir premieres the new arrangement of “The Sleeping of a Child.” Originally for solo, unaccompanied voice, it is now for five-part chorus, solo soprano, baritone, and harp. It will be dedicated to the families of Newtown, Conn., and the national effort to lessen gun violence in American society. The choir will perform Ripley’s piece under his direction as part of a program titled “A New Created World, The Joys of Papa Haydn”, after his oratorio, “The Creation.” The concert starts at 3 p.m. in the Johnson Theater of the Paul Creative Arts Center. The program is free and open to the public.…
On Sunday April 7 , 2013 I attended the Junior Recital for Michelle Ellison (soprano) and Rachel Stanton (piano) at Oberlin College & Conservatory. Coming to my second show at Oberlin College I really didn’t know what to expect this time around. On this nice day at Oberlin College I observed many students outside playing their instruments and various groups outside singing in circles enjoying the weather. I could tell that these students were very passionate about music. Inside of the conservatory building the recital was held inside of the Kulas Recital Hall. This was my first time entering a room that was made specifically for musical recitals. The hall wasn’t too big but it was large enough to fit a nice sized crowd in a narrow room.…
What is choir life all about? Well I can tell you that it is more than classical music and tuxedoes! Choir is a great group to join, and it is a great way to make friends and have fun. I know all of this because I sang in my church choir and high school choir for years, and with that experience I can tell you the truth about choir. However, many people have their own ideas about choir that are mostly untrue. They have various reasons of why they believe the many things that are untrue, but I’m here to clear the air. Most of our population believe that choir consists of, opera music, boring activities, and opera music; however, choir is actually full of excitement,…