July 13th, 2012
By Rick Pender |
Arts |
Posted In: World Choir Games
World Choir Games: Packed 12 Hours on Thursday
I spent 12 hours on Thursday absorbing events and
performances of the 2012 World Choir Games. My "day pass" gave me way
too much to write up in detail, but here are some highlights and random
observations.
Show Choirs: I spent several morning hours at the Aronoff Center (which
was "sold-out" — no empty seats, before 10 a.m.!) watching groups
perform in the manner popularized by the TV series
Glee. Some
followed the familiar model completely — glittering costumes, athletic
dance numbers, lots of fist-pumping and high energy. They were fun to
watch, but the international filter provided by groups from the Bahamas
and Venezuela provided a whole new filter. The 26 members of the Bahama
National Youth Choir dispensed with flashy costumes — young men and
women wore khaki pants and skirts, topped with navy blue blazers and
white shirts. But, boy, could they dance: From "It Don't Mean a Thing if
it Ain't Got That Swing" to Michael Jackson's "Beat It." And when they
finished (to a standing ovation), the next group, Orfeón Universitario
Rafael Montaño from Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, dazzled us with a
salsa-inspired Spanish-language set with costume changes for every
number — at one point including a dozen women with palm trees atop their
heads! About half the numbers utilized wonderful soloists, mature women
with incredible voices backed up by the choir in tributes to pop
singers from the world of Hispanic music. The group's performance was a
riot of color, dancing and joyous outbursts of energy.
Barbershop: This is a first-time category for WCG, a popular choir form
in North America that's not practiced much elsewhere. But based on the
big crowd for the competition at Music Hall, I'd say that singers of the
world might be adopting this happy form of choral performance that
involves close harmony, typically by groups that are all male or female.
I smiled at a group of 32 from Minnesota, the North Star Boys Choir,
and enjoyed the "mature" group of women, the Cincinnati Sound Chorus,
who clearly enjoyed their set, opening with "As long as I'm singing my
song." Three more choruses in colorful costumes — A Cappella Showcase
(from Canada), Greater Harrisburg Sweet Adelines Chorus (from
Pennsylvania) and Bay Area Showcase Chorus (from California) were all
dazzlingly entertaining.
Friendship Concert: Departing from Music Hall late in the afternoon, I
encountered a big crowd in Washington Park surrounding the bandstand.
Patiently waiting for the moment to begin was a chorus of kids from
Goteborg School in South Africa. The surrounding crowd was dotted with
other performers, young African-American girls in maroon choir robes and
pale girls from Russia in floaty pastel chiffon dresses with flowers in
their hair, looking like escapees from a fantasy bridal party. I was
tempted to pass by until the South African choir started to sing: They
were elementary aged children who sang with lusty enthusiasm, and I
couldn't tear myself away from listening to their rhythmic songs and
high spirits. The crowd responded accordingly.
After dinner at Bakersfield on Vine Street, I went on to the day's real
highlight, the Cultural Showcase at the Aronoff — another completely
full house at the P&G Hall starting at 7:30 p.m. The Venezuelans I'd
seen earlier in show choir mode were back doing a program of somewhat
less flashy folk music numbers. There was still plenty of energy and
costumes, as well as more work from the outstanding soloists. The next
group was 65 boys from Kearsney College, a high school in Botha's Hill,
South Africa. Half their program was sung in blue-and-white choir robes
with a brilliant yellow icon of Africa on the front; this was a
powerfully emotional set, full of the rhythms and zest that I've come to
expect from South African ensembles. The second portion of their
program focused on Zulu folklore and one of its heroes, King Shaka. For
this portion the boys dressed in black shirts and pants with cardinal
red belts and knee-high rubber boots, like those worn by miners. This
set of music was non-stop athleticism, dancing, acrobatics and lusty
singing. The audience responded warmly to this off-the-hook segment, and
conductor Bernard Krüger told the audience that he loves Americans
because they really know how to cheer. The final set of performers were
from Istanbul, Turkey, the Bogaziçi Jazz Choir. This was a different
kind of folk music from a country about which I don't know much, but
watching their earnest, sometimes serious sometimes humorous delivery, I
feel that I understand their character more fully. They concluded with
several songs in English that warmed the audience even more — earning
two standing ovations.
My final observation on the evening: It was so satisfying to be in an
audience that truly loved what they were witnessing and expressed their
joy at the performances with honest reactions. These were some of the
most genuine standing ovations I've ever witnessed. I was proud to be in
this crowd, and I have to believe that it was a truly memorable
experience for the performers.
A final observation: Every choir I've heard from South Africa has deeply
moved me. Knowing that nation's history of apartheid and seeing choirs
of mixed races reveling in music gave me hope that music can indeed heal
the world. That's a great lesson to learn from the World Choir Games.
I appreciate the need to reserve comments to a limited space for brevity and clarity, but your lack of a comment on the performance by the Gateway Summer Youth Choir in the Barbershop segment at Music Hall on Thursday is an amazing and glaring ommission. Those boys were stunning! Their blend, intonation and musicallity was nothing short of remarkable and they clearly had the hall, quite literally, on their feet. They were far and away the greatest surprise and overal performance of the category. I cannot believe you did not have something to say... Did you just miss them?