WCSU Spring Choral Concert on Life, Loss and Rebirth

All the brave soldiers that cannot get older been asking after you. Do we find the cost of freedom buried in the ground? Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down.” - Stephen Stills

Danbury, CT - The Western Connecticut State University Chamber Singers and Concert Choir presented a joint spring concert on April 18, 2017 in the magnificent Veronica Hagman Concert Hall at the Visual & Performing Arts Center on their Westside Campus. The annual concert is a chance for the university students to perform vocal selections carefully selected by the team of faculty members Kevin Jay Isaacs and Cory Ganschow, who conduct the Chamber Singers and Concert Choir respectively. Liang-Fang Chang accompanied both groups on the grand piano.

This year the theme for the 14 pieces was “Life, Loss, and Rebirth” and it went nicely with the Easter season.
The Chamber Singers opened the concert with pieces by Mozart entitled “Dixit” and “Laudate Dominum.” Written in 1780 when the composer was only 24 years of age, the two works are from “Vesperae solennes de confessore,” and were intended for the Holy Saturday services. The pieces basically dealt with first destroying and then wishes for the future, the first based upon Psalm 110 and the second upon Psalm 117. Soprano Olivia Conforti opened the beautiful second half of the two works presented without a break with an impressive solo.

Three a capella pieces followed. “The Paper Reeds by the Brooks” by Randall Thompson (1899-1984) a quiet piece from ‘The Peaceable Kingdom’ was first, followed by “To All, To Each” by William Schuman, based on Walt Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” written after the Civil War for Abraham Lincoln. However, my absolute favorite part of this year’s concert was the Crosby, Stills and Nash songs “Daylight Again” and “Find the Cost of Freedom’ written by Stephen Stills in 1970/1981. The men in the Chambers performed this combination of pieces that closed many a CSN concert (yes, because I was born the same year as Dr. Isaacs I am old enough to remember.) Mr. Stills wrote “Find the Cost of Freedom” after visiting a Civil War battle site and it was the flip side of the protest song “Ohio;” suffice it say that it still packs an emotional punch. This was accented at the end of the piece when the young men turned their backs to the audience one by one, as young soldiers dying.

The Chambers’ final number was “Gloria’ by Dominick Argento from an opera in which angels and mortals interact called ‘The Masque of Angels’ and was based upon the words of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass.

After a brief pause, not an intermission, the Concert Choir entered the hall dressed in black dresses and tuxes. “The Last Words of David” by Randall Thompson, based on 2 Samuel 23:3-4 , was perfectly together. “Afternoon on a Hill” by Eric William Barnum was written in 2008 and featured words by Edna St. Vincent Millay. “I will touch a hundred flowers/And not pick one” were the favorite lyrics of Dr. Ganschow.
“Tenebrae factae sunt” was written by Dr. Isaacs in 1986, from ‘Lenten Trilogy.’ The Chamber Singers reentered the stage to perform this piece under the direction of the composer and then the Concert Choir joined them for the premiere of Dr. Isaacs composition of ‘Ave Verum Corpus.’ The piece was composed for the WCSU Concert Choir and Dr. Ganschow; she stepped up to conduct the second piece and the two works went together well. How exciting it was to hear a world premiere of a new work in this wonderful setting.

Nico Muhly wrote “Senex puerum portabat’ in 2008 and the singers were joined by an eight-piece brass ensemble made up of students and faculty members. This contemporary American writer/arranger who, at 32, is the youngest composer ever to have been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Parts of this piece can only be described as cacophony.

“Weeping Mary,” an early American piece arranged by Brad Holmes in 2007, was performed with the students standing on an upper level that surrounded the audience on three sides and included foot stamping. “Hard Times,” a traditional piece arranged by Craig Hella Johnson, featured a solo by Carly Sacco. The choir parted in the middle to allow a large screen to be lowered. Slides of photos taken of students and audience members holding their answer to the prompt “Today I will…” were displayed while the students performed the piece. I was honored to be the first parent/audience member to appear in the slideshow, holding my sign that said “Today I will write my out…”

The concert closed with the great swing of a piece entitled “How Can I Cry?” by Moira Smiley in 2006. Taylor Doyle was the alto soloist and Zachery Rubin played cajon.

Congratulations to the WCSU music department on another inspiring and well-rehearsed concert.

Pictured: Olivia Conforti and Dr. Isaacs, photo courtesy of Ms. Conforti