By: Rachael Jackson Staff Writer
Gospel and choral music were taken to new heights on Monday Nov. 30, 2015, with rousing renditions of choral classics sung by the Western Oregon chamber singers and concert choir.
The chamber singers took the stage first. They performed three modern compositions of familiar ecclesiastical pieces. While songs remained in their original Latin, their arrangement breathed fresh life into the classic tradition of chamber music.
The chamber’s first piece, “Ave Maria,” which features text that has been used in choral music for over a thousand years, was revamped in 2015 by composer Daniel Elder.
Another piece written in 2015, “Salzburg Missa Brevis,” was directed by Choral and Instrumental Conducting graduate student Miriam Means.
To finish out the set, the chamber choir sang arguably the most modern of their pieces.
It was a fun incarnation of the “Benedictio” prayer. Faster than the other songs, it also displayed a series of terse and jaunty notes.
After a short intermission, the concert choir took the stage with their conductor, professor Zsofia Csikos-Tardy. They performed four songs that followed the tradition of gospel music, full of enthusiasm and praise.
Csikos-Tardy explained that this choir formed at the beginning of the term on rocky footing; since it is a non-audition choir, all members were accepted, meaning they had varied degrees of musical knowledge.
Half the members did not know how to read music, and the lack of deep bass voices made it difficult to find music to perform that would fit the choir’s makeup.
“At the beginning it was a fear in me that we would not be ready,” Csikos-Tardy said. Finally a couple men joined with the bass voices they needed, and they all learned the music faster than she anticipated.
“But,” Csikos-Tardy said, “They were ready in the last three weeks so I just had to take care of the band.”
However, Csikos-Tardy’s fears were put to bed when the group received applause and appreciation from the gathered students, who had the opportunity to be exposed to possibly new and beautiful forms of choral and gospel music.
