Annual Choral Concert brings feeling of the season to audience
Almost every seat was filled in Schuler Hall on Friday night for the music department’s annual Spring Choral Concert featuring the Cardinal Choral and Chamber Singers under the direction of Max Mendez, as well as special guests the Déjà vu Barbershop Quartet. The theme this year was Cantar y Bailar: Song and dance from around the world.
The Cardinal Choral stepped onto the stage in matching red and white robes and opened with “Cantar!” by Jay Althouse, followed by “Chindia” by Alexandru Pascanu and “Drait-on” by Morten Jogannes Lauidsen. The three pieces flowed smoothly with liveliness and a perfect arrangement of voices. After the third piece, the Chamber Signers took the stage. The Chamber Singers opened with “O Sing Joyfully” by Adrian Batten, which showed the intensity of the chamber signers, less than half of the entire group of the choir. After the first piece, it was followed by “Cantate Domino” by Claudio Monteverdi, “Melodies Steal into My heart” by Antonin Dvorak” and “It Couldn’t Be Done” by Eleanor Daley.
After, the Chamber Singers had four members go into the back of Schuler while Max explained how “Ola! o Che Bon Echo!” written by Orlando diLasso wrote music for royalty in Europe, as well as for the church, and used the churches for echoing opportunities. The split choirs made for an amazing experience. After, the Chamber Singers sang “Alouette” a French-Canadian Playsong by Robert Sund was a song about rain, and the singers used instruments to show this effect. Then, they sang “Lua, Lua. Lua” by Esther Scliar, “La Lluvia” by Stephan Hatfield, “Son de Camaguey” a Cuban Folksong by Stephen Hatfield, and ended strong with “Luk Luk Lumbu” a Banyuwangi Folksong by Budi Susanto Yohanes.
After the intermission, the Déjà vu Barbershop Quartet took the stage. Singing “Nobody Knows What a Red-Head Mama can do” by Irving Mills, Al Durbin, and Sammy Fain, “Wedding bells” by Irving Kahal, Willie Raskin, and Sammy Fain, “Grow Old with You” by Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy and ending with “The Moment I Saw Your Eyes”, the Quartet caused loud applause and laughter from the audience.
The Cardinal Choral took back the stage after the quartet, but, the quartet came back and did a duet with the Chorale for the song “You’re Just in Love” By Irving Berlin. After the duet, The Chorale sang “Cantas las Flores” by Michael D. Mendoza. Then, the Chorale’s second to last song was “The Bandit of Barcelona” which had a tango dance by Celina LaMonth, 16, Post Falls and Syafiq Fuller, 23, Couer d’alene, Dance.
The Choral wrapped up the night with “Ritmo” by Dan Davison, which involved clapping to emphasize the meaning of the song, which was rhythm. The Choral ended strong, and the crowd erupted into applause as well as a standing ovation.
