By Darian Rahnis, Staff Writer
Susquehanna will kick off the 2017 Pennsylvania Collegiate Choral Festival with a concert on Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Stretansky Concert Hall.
The festival will be held in conjunction with the Fall Choral Conference, which will be hosted by the American Choral Directors Association chapter of Pennsylvania.
The concert will feature three different musical ensembles: Chamber Singers, University Choir and University Chorale.
Christopher Hoster, an alumnus who graduated from Susquehanna in 2008, will conduct the Chamber Singers and University Choir and Jason Vodicka, associate professor of music, will conduct the University Chorale.
According to Hoster, this concert will be diverse and include a broad selection of music that will be performed.
The different ensembles will perform pieces in Latin, English and German. Some of the songs will have organ or piano accompaniment, while others will be unaccompanied.
While Hoster carefully chose his repertoire, he said one song in particular stood out to him.
“It is always special to premiere a newly composed work,” Hoster said. “On Friday, the Chamber Singers will sing Matthew Zimnoch’s ‘O me! O Life!’”
Hoster said, “This unaccompanied choral piece is set to a text by Walt Whitman, a towering 19th century American wordsmith.”
Hoster said that it has been a rewarding experience for students to work with a piece written by a living composer, as they do not have the same exposure to Zimnoch’s work as they would a musical giant like Beethoven.
Sophomore Vanessa Lloyd, a member of University Chorale, said her favorite song of the repertoire is a piece titled “Long Time Ago,” which Lloyd will be accompanying on piano.
Lloyd said all of the songs the group has practiced for the concert have their difficulties, specifically rhythms. However, Lloyd said that the student musicians are prepared for the concert.
“Vodicka is absolutely wonderful to work with and is full of knowledge,” Lloyd said. With being a future educator, I truly look up to him as a role model.”
According to Hoster, the music department’s schedule has been challenging this semester due to additional performances for events, such as President Jonathan Green’s inauguration and the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
However, Hoster said that all of the students in the choral ensembles have exercised diligence in preparing for this concert and will make all of their performances special. Students also cited the multitude of music events on campus throughout the entire fall semester.
Junior Rebekka Rosen, a member of University Choir, said, “One of my favorite parts of being a music major is getting to be involved in so many campus events.”
Rosen explained how often the group practiced and said, “Choir rehearses three days a week to prepare for our various performance obligations.”
“We are also expected to put work in outside of class,” Rosen continued.
Lloyd said she hopes the audience recognizes the multiple styles of music that will be performed during the festival and how the department utilizes multiple talents.
“The audience should take away all of the different types of music that are being showcased,” Lloyd said.
“We are blessed to have a music department that is talented in so many ways,” Lloyd continued.
“Every ensemble is exploring a diverse repertoire that allows students and audience alike to experience the vast span of quality choral music throughout history and across cultures,” Hoster said.
The festival is not the only musical performance scheduled for the weekend: seniors Kevin Grzybek and Andrew Davis will perform a joint recital on Nov. 12 at 2:30 p.m., which will also take place in Stretansky Concert Hall.