By Lauren Zazzara
Staff Writer
Concert Choir, directed by Kathryn Black, and Concert Band, directed by Dr. Leslie Sabina, performed their first concert of the semester on Sunday. Both groups chose a variety of music and offered different themes to the audience.
The choir’s music was based on religious themes from different religions and parts of the world. The opening piece, “Shalom,” was a welcoming song in a minor key.
The second song, titled “Behold, How Good,” featured soloist Erin Arsenault.
“Wade in the Water,” the third piece, had a bluesier feel. Elizabeth Roney, Julie Curran, Jessica Stender, Lena Young and Micaela Maria Young had solos, and they reached impressively high notes which drew a loud response from the audience.
Black noted that the next piece, “That Which Remains,” gives note to All Souls Day, a Catholic holy day, coming up this weekend.
The choir’s final piece, titled “Santo” from “St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass,” had local importance because the composer grew up in Salamanca. The lyrics were in Italian and the rhythms were Latin American. The shaker, bongo and guiro added to this atmosphere, creating a fun ending to the performance.
The band’s portion of the recital was more secular in nature than the choir’s.
“It is an ‘intimate’ band, everyone can hear everybody else with ease, which improves balance, intonation, and phrasing,” Sabina said.
The performance began with a piece titled “Aztec Fire,” which mimicked a fire dying out and roaring back to life.
The second piece, “The Great Escape,” was a theme from the WWII film of the same name, which Sabina pointed out, inspired other pop culture elements of that era, such as Hogan’s Heroes.
The band switched genres and played a New Orleans early jazz piece for the next selection titled “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” Piccolo and saxophone solos featured Jessica Ungaro and Peter Bertoldo, respectively.
The band chose two selections from the “Songs of Wales” Suite, including Land of my Fathers/The Marsh of Rhuddlan and Venture Gwen. The two selections contrasted in that the first featured woodwinds and the second featured brass.
The concert ended with a crowd favorite, “My Favorite Things.”
“I thought that we had a good performance of the pieces that we had,” said LaurieAnne Wickens, a sophomore marketing major.
“I think the concert band performed very well, especially when considering that we’re not working with full instrumentation….” Sabina said. “It would be nice to have four French horns, two alto saxes and a baritone sax, as well as a couple more percussionists.”
As for what’s coming up for the band this semester, Sabina said, “There is our annual Christmas concert during the last week of classes (in December). That’s a fun concert because everything played is traditional and recognized by the audience.”
“I’m looking forward to the Christmas concert,” said Wickens, a trumpet player.
