By Zoe Bedregal
Photo's by Sadie Hull
On Thursday, March 9th, the vocal department held their Pre-Festival Concert. The concert began at 7:30 p.m. and ended around 8:30 p.m. It featured the Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and Cantala, and was held at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown.
Before the concert began, Mrs. Mackley gave thanks to Dr. Hovermale and Mrs. Hunt for providing the resources that make these kinds of events possible. Mackley also thanked the parents of the singers as well as the church for allowing the concert to be held there. The church provided risers for the singers to stand on, along with ideal acoustics allowing their voices to echo through the chapel. Mrs. Mackley informed the auidence that every song heard at the concert was to be performed at HCC on the Wednesday of the following week in order to be adjudicated; so the concert could be considered a bit of a pre-preformace run.
The concert began with concert choir members walking out on either side of the pews singing a song entitled “Lumen”; a haunting tune sung in Latin. The singers slowly moved forward while singing the song, eventually making their way onto the risers. The choir members were dressed in all black formal wear, dawing either a tux or floor length dress with a crystal pendant on the side. The concert choir then sang two more songs, “O Bone Jesu” and “For the Beauty of the Earth” which were led by accompanist, Elenor Metz a senior pianist and conductor Mrs. Reynolds.
The concert choir then left the stage and the Cantala made their way onto the risers. The Cantala consists of only nine singers but it still made a very powerful and memorable performance. This section of the concert was conducted by Mrs. Mackley began with a piece titled “Nigra Sum”, followed by “Fa Una Canzona (Sing Now A Song)”, and “I'm Just A Poor Wayfaring Stranger”. After they finished their third piece Mrs Mackley took a moment to discuss the Cantala’s accomplishments. It was revealing that the Cantala would not be performing at the festival because they had already been adjudicated. The judges enjoyed their piece so much that it was requested they perform it again.
The Cantala then exited the stage and the chamber choir entered, this section of the choir consisted of both vocal and theater students. The chamber choir was conducted by Mrs. Mackley and once again led by accompanist Elenor Metz. In the first piece, entitled “Tunggare”, the singers used their hands as instruments by clapping along with the beat which made for a very engaging and fun listening experience. This was followed by “I Loved All Lovely Things” and “Dies Irae”. Before beginning the third song, Mrs. Mackley had many remarks about the piece, she told the audience of its “driving” and “forceful” nature, and referred to it as a, “Contemporary setting of a modern text”. Needless to say the audience was not left disappointed, it felt as though the song was demanding to be listened to.
A special thanks to Mrs. Mackley, Mrs. Reynolds, and all staff members that make events like this possible, BISFA is so thankful for you. Congratulations to all those who participated in the concert, you can all be incredibly proud of yourselves for a job well done! We can't wait to see what else you have in store for us!
Photo in the middle features Eleanor Metz
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