Women’s, Men’s chorales give final performances
The UT Choral department finished off its main 2018 spring concert series this week.
Tuesday, April 3 the Women’s and Men’s Chorales gathered at Cox Auditorium for their spring concert. The night’s focus however, shifted to leaders including Dr. Angela Batey, associate professor Andrew Skoog, graduate student conductors and alumni.
In front of a large crowd, graduate students conducted the majority of the pieces, many of which featured a different language. However, the a cappella groups reVOLution and VOLume stuck to contemporary hits such as “Skyscraper” by Demi Lovato.
The Women’s Chorale closed the show with the “Tennessee Waltz arranged specifically for the choir by UT choral conducting alumus Seth O’ Kegley.
Just before the final song, graduate student conductor Hannah Berkley led the women in singing a Hungarian piece entitled “Túrōt Ëszik A Cigány” composed by the late Zoltan Kodály. Berkley spoke to some of the challenges of the song.
“With ten songs and six different conductors, you don’t get a lot of rehearsal time,” she said. “The Women’s Choir has fifty minute rehearsals, so each conductor gets six minutes. You are up and then you’re down.”
Berkley added that neither she nor anyone in the choir knew Hungarian, posing an added challenge to master the pronunciation.
Berkley emphasized the tight-knit relations between the choirs. To be effective performers, they must mesh as ensembles. Listening to one another remains key to achieving a uniform sound.
The Chamber Singers and the Concert Choir will be back for the fall semester. In the meantime, Berkley and the other Chamber Singers gear up for their Ireland tour this summer.
To check on all events related to the Tennessee School of Music, visit http://www.music.utk.edu.
Written by Lauren Claxton
Featured image by Kaitlin Marlowe
Edited by Lexie Little
