Just a few blogs back I told you that the choral arts are alive and well in Charleston – make that WORLD-CLASS well. And that’s just part of the vital and rapidly growing vocal music scene at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts (SOTA). The quality and diversity of the Vocal/Choral Program have been on a relentless upward march in recent years – a trend that was proven to all who attended last night’s annual Vocal/Choral Benefit Gala.
But before I tell you about that, let me tell you why C of C’s Concert Choir, led by Dr. Robert Taylor, is one of the brightest stars in Charleston’s cultural crown. I heard them a week ago last Thursday at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke & St. Paul, in an absolutely ear-ravishing, soul-rending concert.
Two seasons ago, the same group made national choral news when they were invited to perform at the American Choral Directors’ Association (ACDA) annual convention in Los Angeles. Lacking a system of national competitions to determine choral supremacy in America, the ACDA’s yearly conventions have come to be regarded as a “Superbowl” of sorts for domestic college choirs. And our hometown heroes not only got invited (an honor in itself), but turned out to be the apparent “belle of the ball.” I heard them in concert at the Cathedral after they got back – and here’s what I had to say about them then:
This was an evening of sheer, staggering choral magic: none who were there will ever forget it. I never thought I’d say this, but it was fully on a par with the work of the otherwise peerless Westminster Choir that performs in the very same venue every Spring during Spoleto. Like them, this choir has it all: needlepoint precision and intonation, uncanny dynamic sensitivity, and the kind of emotive power that makes for non-stop goose-bumps and throat-lumps. With many rich and well-trained voices among them, they are able to produce choral sonorities ranging from icy-clear purity to earthy roars. World-class choral artistry now resides in Charleston year-round.
Now I ask you, dear blogophiles: how the heck can I top THAT? And I’ve gotta try, ‘cause last Thursday’s event was the best I’ve ever heard from them. Last season was kind of a rebuilding year for them – but this season, replete with fresh vocal talent on top of a core of seasoned veterans, they’ve exceeded even the lofty standards they set two seasons ago.
I won’t do a laundry list of all the pieces they sang to perfection. But, as I heard the limpid polyphony of Sicut Cervus – a glowing motet by Palestrina – unfold from the balcony, the sheer beauty of their smooth vocal “bloom” made my breath catch in my throat. It’s not often that music draws such a visceral, physical reaction from me.
Then I had fun lip-synching as they offered some classy accounts of excerpts from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana – which they helped bring to life in a recent Charleston Symphony Concert (I’ve sung them myself, many times). We also got to hear several charming pieces done by the College’s Madrigal Singers, a select sub-choir that is best-known for their annual Yuletide Madrigal Feast.
Among many more gripping and superbly sung numbers, the highlight was contemporary choral sensation Eric Whitacre’s Sleep – one of his best-known works. It’s full of cunning tone clusters that make an ear-grabbing, thrilling thing of dissonance – and it takes a truly special bunch of singers to achieve the kind of icy vocal transparency and stiletto-sharp intonation necessary to bring it off to full effect. I’ve heard this piece from some of the world’s finest academic and professional chamber choirs – and none of them can top what I heard from our own wonderful young singers.
And we got to hear both ensembles again last night at the Scholarship gala – doing several of the same numbers. The concert choir kicked things off, positioning themselves along the front- and side-aisles of the Simons Center Recital Hall for Irish composer Michael McGlynn’s very tribal-sounding Christus Resurgens. Hearing it in surround-sound like that made for truly amazing ear-candy.
From there, the gala (co-hosted by Deanna Mc Broom and Robert Ivey) proceeded to make its point very eloquently – namely that the College can’t compete for the best voices without a healthy scholarship program. All I can say, based on the remainder of the program, is that our hometown college is definitely succeeding in attracting some of the finest young voices anywhere – so the flow of scholarship dollars must be pretty good these days. And if this level of performance quality is the result, it behooves us to keep that flow going.
We got a little bit of everything: Besides the choral pieces, there were opera arias, duets and ensembles plus Broadway numbers. On top of the choirs, we heard the massed singers of the College’s opera company and fifteen accomplished individual singers – to include gifted undergraduates, seasoned vocalists from the Artist Certificate program, some terrific recent graduates and faculty members.
If you love the kinds of music that only the human voice can make, check out any or all of the vocal possibilities at the college. You can keep track of the vocal/choral goings-on at the music department’s website, right HERE. Once you hear the kinds of musical magic these wonderful students can make, you’ll want to do everything you can to keep their voices sounding.
