On Nov. 23, KSC Vocal Consort and Chamber Singers took the stage at the Alumni Recital Hall for what was their final performance before the Thanksgiving holiday break. The show included a wide variety of music, including Renaissance pieces, an opera chorus, modern folk sound and an American choral repertoire.
Voice Adjunct Faculty Morgan Bothwell conducted the Vocal Consort during the performance, while Voice Adjunct Faculty Evangelia Leontis conducted the Chamber Singers.
The show began with a showcase of music from Carlo Gesualdo. Gesualdo is famous for having murdered his wife and her affair partner, with rumors after his own death proposing that his second wife had killed him. His music showcased an increasingly mournful and darker tone as they went on.
The performance also included references to biblical music, with a rendition of the song “When David Heard” by Eric Whitacre, which covers David crying over the death of Absalom, his son.
“One Voice,” a piece by the Wailin’ Jennys, a Canadian folk music group, was performed during the evening. A vocalist for the band, Ruth Moody, described how the inspiration for the piece came from an open jam session which she attended with other musicians, writing “One Voice” later that night.
Morten Lauridsen, an American composer and recipient of the National Medal of Arts, had his piece “Sure On This Shining Night” featured during the performance.
Another composer with featured music from the show was Giovanni Palestrina, an Italian Catholic composer who wrote Renaissance music.
The final pieces of the night included works from Melissa Dunphy, an Australian composer, and Livvy Larsen, an American composer.
The last piece performed was “New Dreams” by Dunphy, which was written to honor Grace Lee Boggs, a civil rights activist whose family came from Guangdong, China.
Leonitis provided her thoughts on how the performance turned out after the show.
“I thought it went really well,” Leontis said. “I’m proud of how far these singers have gone. Really proud.”
Bothwell echoed Leontis’ sentiments.
“I loved it,” he said. “I’m very proud of them. I think they made the music very accessible for the audience.”
David Hoitt, an audience member for the evening, also praised the performers’ talents.
“We’ve come to previous concerts in the past years,” Hoitt said. “And we were stunned by the singing.”
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