The crowd hummed and harmonies echoed as the night dived into eccentric beats. The voices of the university’s Concert Choir and the Chamber Singers echoed through the Bellaham Recital Hall with perfect harmonies as they performed their last oral concert of the semester on Thursday Oct. 17.
Each year a theme is chosen to be showcased during the concert.This year’s theme “In the Movies” emphasized diversity through varied selections of music. Students performed songs from movies such as Shrek, Sister Act 2 and Lady bird.
Each song strung a different emotion, creating vibrant energy. Upbeat melodies bounced off the walls as the audience began to head bop and sing along to songs.
“The idea [In the Movies] just sort of came to me as I was going through music. I like to pick themes. This is the last oral concert of the semester. I really enjoyed the music, there was a lot of variety. I like them all,” Director of Choral Activities Dr. Kenneth Williams said.
Balleilakka was a big hit amongst the audience. The performance featured percussionists and a group dancers. The upbeat and rhythmic melody created a storyline and showcased the talent of the Concert Choir and Chamber Singers.
The diverse music selection highlighted the strengths of the choir and the work invested to put the the show together.
“My favorite song was ‘Making Christmas’ and it was acapella, it was nice to have all our voices mix…coordinating and keeping it [the music] energized was a challenge but it paid off at the end,” Sabrina Del-Angel, music education major, said.
“In the Movies” had the crowd commenting “Ooo, that’s cool” in between songs and anticipating the next song. The fast-paced songs had the audience captivated.
“It’s so hard to choose my favorite song because they were all so fun. I enjoyed Besame Mucho and All Star the most…a challenge for the choir as a whole was the fast tongue twister in Tamil during Balleilakka.
I loved the music selection, it was so diverse… this music was selected to perform on tour to high schoolers, it was very well received and entertaining for the kids,” Erika Lopez, vocal music education major, said.
The night was filled with a unique ensemble of music pieces that offered the community and students a special performance.
“Oh Happy Day, Down to the River to Pray all had neat things. He [Kenneth Williams] always picks great music and does amazing. He does a great job in selecting music and putting a program together. It was all so good,” said Darlene Scott, attendee of “In the Movies.”