On Tuesday, Nov. 24 the Longwood University Choirs took the stage for their fall concert entitled “Together We Rise.” This semester the Women’s and Men’s Choirs were joined by special guests Lady Joan’s, Pitch Perfect and High Street Harmony who started off the concert with their renditions of various songs.
Pitch Perfect sang two selections that were both familiar and got the crowd moving to the beat. Their first selection, “Shake It Out,” was a very upbeat performance and the soloist for the evening stepped in for the other who was unable to make it. Even though this was their first performance with a new soloist, they rocked the house and set the tone for the rest of the evening. Their next selection was “Run to You” which was a very slow paced song with a completely different tone than the previous song.
Following Pitch Perfect was the all-male group High Street Harmony who wowed the crowd with “The Parting Glass” and “Pompeii.” Their first song was their “goodbye song” which they sing for members who are graduating or going to another school. It was a sad evening for the boys, yet they transferred into their next selection “Pompeii,” which was very familiar to the crowd and lifted their spirits.
The last of the special guests was the a capella group Lady Joan’s with their renditions of “Let Her Go” and “King of Anything.” They were into the performance as they swayed back and forth and tapped their feet to keep on beat. Even though these were popular songs, the group changed them up and added their own twist to each piece that really showcased their talents and what they could do.
After these special guests came the main attractions and performers of the evening. The Men’s Choir was first to take the stage under the direction of Dr. Pamela McDermott, and even though somewhat small in number, their voices carried through the auditorium during their five selections. Their first piece, “Over the Rainbow,” featured soloists Corwin Donnell and Spencer Smith with accompaniment by Devante Lucas on the ukulele. All of the members were wearing colorful shirts symbolizing a rainbow and it helped brighten up the stage and the tone for the evening. Following this selection came a combined selection including “Si Iniquitate” and “Esti Dal” that featured soloists Farris Hallaj and Darnell Royster. These selections were in Hungarian and both soloists did an excellent job with the different language.
Next, the group sang two more pieces entitled “Sweet Rivers” and “Tshotsholoza (Go Forward)” with “Sweet Rivers” being more of a somber, slow beat piece that changed the tone for the evening once again. After this piece, senior Dawn Seto joined the group on stage to direct the choir’s last selection of the evening with percussion accompaniment. This piece was very interesting as the group was moving throughout the whole piece and even came to the front of the stage and formed a straight line, stomping their feet on certain beats. Overall, the men gave a great performance with their variety of selections with a little bit of something for everyone.
The Women’s group was next to take the stage under the direction of new choir direction Fran Coleman, a Longwood Alum. This group was much larger than the men’s group, and also performed a wide variety of songs. They started off with a Spanish song entitled “Juntos” featuring a group of five soloists that shined towards the end of the piece.
Next, they sang “Lift Thine Eyes from Elijah” with a more somber tone, which was their second a capella song of the evening. The group sang a peaceful selection, “Lux Aeterna from Missa” which really showcased the group’s ability to switch tones and emotions for the various pieces. They wrapped up their performance with a very upbeat piece, “Still I Rise” featuring another soloist group that shined throughout the duration of the piece.
To wrap up the evening both choirs took the stage to perform two selections “All Praise to Thee” and “Bill Baily, Won’t You Please Come Home?” “All Praise to Thee” involved a variety of techniques wrapped together for a well performed piece. It involved pitch changes, movement of the singers and different formations that really surprised the crowd. The next piece was more upbeat and had a bit of comic relief at the end as the performers struck a pose on the final note.
The evening would not have been complete without the singing of the “Alma Mater” by everyone in attendance that evening. While this was the choirs’ last performance of the semester, students will still have opportunities to see and hear the Music Department in Action. Dec. 5 and 6 is the Holiday Dinner and Concert and the department will kick off next semester with the Longwood Honors Band on Jan. 9.
