By Nevaeh Porter, Arts Editor
On Friday, Oct. 23, the Aquinas Music Department hosted High School Choir Day. Choirs from different high schools would come to Aquinas for the day, spend time with their sections in sectionals to learn one or two of the Aquinas College Chorus songs, and then perform with them at the end of the day. This year, the program worked with the Harper Creek High School choirs and the Davidson High School choir.
“Just being able to see people that I sang with in high school and getting to talk to my old band director as well,” alto section member Reid May said when asked about her favorite part of the day.
The Aquinas College Chamber Singers were with the high schoolers all day. Chorus and the Aquinas Vocal Ensemble (AVE) weren’t there until later, but spent as much of the day with the high schoolers as they could.
The high schoolers learned “Consecrate the Place and Day” by Lloyd Pfautsch and “Sing Me to Heaven” by Jane Griner and Daniel E. Gawthrop.
That morning they had sectionals with the Chamber Singers, then they split into groups, half of them went to lunch, while the other half went on a tour of campus, then the lunch group went on the tour and the tour group went to lunch. After lunch, everyone went to the Arts and Music Building: all high schoolers, Chamber Singers, AVE and College Chorus.
“As I was looking around, taking pictures, seeing the smiles and hearing the questions, “ graduate assistant Olivia Easler said, “there was a lot of growth for all the programs in just one day.”
Tenors during their sectional – Photo by Olivia Easler
The program opened with the Aquinas College Chorus opening by singing the national anthem by Francis Scott Key and arranged by James McKelvey and the Alma Mater, words written by Jack Fortner and Music by current director Mark Webb.
The next group to perform was the Harper Creek High School Treble Choir. They sang “Shuel Aroon”, a traditional Irish Folk Song arranged by Ruth Elaine Schram, a song that provides a Celtic experience through a mixture of rubato, energetic rhythms and an Irish chorus.
Next up was the Harper Creek High School Varsity Choir. They sang “Who Has Seen the Wind?” by Edwin T. Childs. This song wants people to feel and see the wind, the warm and cool it provides through a poem about the mysteriousness of the wind.
After them was the Harper Creek High School Honors Choir. They performed “Turn the Lights Back On” by Billy Joel and arranged by Mac Huff. This piece was Joel’s first new song in decades and was met with much anticipation and was performed at the sixty-sixth Grammys.
Following them was the Aquinas College Three and a Half Men. They performed “Hello Mary Lou” by David Wright.
Next, the Aquinas College Chamber Singers performed “Two Advent Motets: III. Ad Te Levavi and IV. Ex Sion” by Joseph Rheinberger and “El Grillo” by Josquin des Près.
Aquinas Chamber Singers performing – Photo by Nevaeh Porter
After them, Davidson High School’s choir performed “I Dream a World” by André Thomas and “You Can’t Step Twice” by Brian Tate, with Ashlyn Armock joining them on Djembe. “I Dream a World” by André Thomas utilizes introspective and contemplative lyrics from poet Langston Hughes and was dedicated to the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“You Can’t Step Twice” by Brian Tate conveys the message of even with constant change, things can always remain the same. Each part gets their own melody and the song has a preachiness to it that reminds people of someone with wisdom who may be adored by those around them.
“The day went really well,” May said. “I think I was really impressed with a lot of the choirs and what they were able to do, especially in a day.”
Following them was the Aquinas Vocal Ensemble. They performed “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square” by Manning Sherwin and arranged by Gene Puerling, “Gershwin Medley” arranged by Jay Althouse and “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder and arranged by Paul Langford.
Finally, all of the choirs combined sang “Consecrate the Place and Day” by Lloyd Pfautsch and “Sing Me to Heaven” by Jane Griner and Daniel E. Gawthrop. “Consecrate the Place and Day” by Lloyd Pfautsch is a standard 1969 edition that appears on many state lists and is a frequent choice for choirs who go to Choral Festival.
“Sing Me to Heaven” by Jane Griner and Daniel E. Gawthrop is a sensitive work that expands, but doesn’t expand beyond the bounds of its four-part harmony framework.
All choirs singing together – Photo by Olivia Easler
“I thought it went really really well, we had over 150 students, which is awesome for choirs,” Easler said. “We had four different schools show up with awesome directors.”
The Aquinas Choirs have their Fall Concert on Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. in Kretschmer Recital Hall in the Arts and Music Building.
