A Choral Tapestry
Gerardo Arias
Concert Paper
May 5th, 2012
A Choral Tapestry
It’s funny how flexible and versatile music is. Music is thrash metal emanating from a pair of iPod headphones, with the intent of getting someone motivated for a long workout, and a soothing lullaby sung by a mother to her child. Music is the sunny chirpings of pretty morning melodies by the birds, and the soft pitter-patter of rain—nature’s music. And on May 4th, music was the choirs of CLC putting together all of the hard work of the semester for the few who are willing to listen. For me, choir music was always to be heard, but never to actually be listened to for any enjoyment. But that night, I was one of those willing few. Attending the College of Lake County Spring Choral Concert made me realize how essential it is to recognize the beauty in versatility in music.
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
Concert Paper
May 5th, 2012
A Choral Tapestry
It’s funny how flexible and versatile music is. Music is thrash metal emanating from a pair of iPod headphones, with the intent of getting someone motivated for a long workout, and a soothing lullaby sung by a mother to her child. Music is the sunny chirpings of pretty morning melodies by the birds, and the soft pitter-patter of rain—nature’s music. And on May 4th, music was the choirs of CLC putting together all of the hard work of the semester for the few who are willing to listen. For me, choir music was always to be heard, but never to actually be listened to for any enjoyment. But that night, I was one of those willing few. Attending the College of Lake County Spring Choral Concert made me realize how essential it is to recognize the beauty in versatility in music.
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