A Choral Celebration: Indeed

On Tuesday, April 24, North Lake College’s choral ensembles gambled with tornadic forces to present a memorable evening of choral music spanning four centuries: from Palestrina, Telemann, and Bach, to Schubert and Persichetti.

The audience, upon entering the intimate acoustics of the Performance Hall, was treated to a last-minute practice session of the string trio that later accompanied a portion of the program. The starspangled stage background came alive with the singing of our national anthem and the reverence of the standing audience.

Crossing international borders, poetry of the evening ranged from ancient Latin texts through pietistic and romantic German texts, in addition to modern verses by Walt Whitman and E. E. Cummings. All participants met the textual, rhythmic, and tonal complexities with confidence and precision.

Charles Ives’s clever and ambitious “Circus Band” combined pianistic and vocal forces for a rousing conclusion to the concert. Janie Wheless and Sondra Robertson synchronized the busy accompaniment on one Steinway, the tempo ebbing and flowing from section to section of the piece.

One observation overheard on the way out of the hall sums up the evening at North Lake College. Midway in the performance, most of the company of singers left the stage.

Six young men, polished and poised in their starched shirts and tuxedos, commanded the stage with their rendition of Dede Duson’s “The Lord is My Shepherd.” Their faces and names in the program reflect the multicultural strength of the college and its surrounding communities. Transfixed, backed by the stars of the American banner, they became a new stanza for “America the Beautiful,” performed when the other singers returned to the stage.

As the audience left this rare musical opportunity, it passed by costumes, props, and set pieces outside the drama rehearsal facilities. Just down the hall, we peered in the window as the community jazz band read through a swinging samba tune. “Way cool,” escaped the lips of a near-by college student. A few steps away, the prolific and diverse talents of North Lake College’s art students filled the Gallery at the center of the campus.

Though yet unannounced, selections from this array of images have already been made to appear in the campus literary magazine, Duck Soup, an award-winning annual publication.

Such was the impact of yet another cultural event here on our own North Lake College campus. We all are fortunate to have able humanities faculty members such as Allan J. Andrews, director and conductor of vocal activities at the college. Additionally, we are fortunate to have Executive Dean of The Visual and Performing Arts, Dr. David Evans, who for years has performed the herculean task of ensuring facilities and budgets for the contributions of these many participants to the campus and to its surrounding communities.

— Dr. Robert Seeley is an English professor at North Lake.