By Anderson Isiagu, December 9th, 2019

It is not common to witness a high school choir Christmas concert performance that has all the trappings of a professional, well- funded group. As you walked into the large expanse Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter ranch California where the concert took place, you had the feeling that you were about to be treated to an evening of high art and exquisite musical renditions. Skepticism abound, considering that it is obviously a high school choir performance. It is not a group of professional singers that are about to file out in colorful attires to serenade the evening away and plunge one into clouds of musical bliss. On the contrary, the concert on the night of December 14 kicked off with forte timpani rolls that quieted the muttering and chit chat of unassuming audience members. This is greeted by a deep, well rounded basso profundo narration going simultaneously with vocal ahs and oohs, properly paced by the conductor, Dr. Galen Clark, to match the lighting effect that set the mood of the evening. The opening song was titled ‘Creation,’ a piece that was composed specifically for the opener of this concert by Michael Lee, a member of the music faculty in the Azusa Pacific University. The name of this piece matches the mood the music evokes and the picture one forms in the minds. As the choir, in tutti with the orchestra gravitates towards a remarkable crescendo, and finally bringing the music to an end, the audience burst into a euphoric applause, and there at that moment I was convinced that this night was going to be more than a mere high school choir performance. Tonight, there will be magic and the beauty of music will be in constant display, I reclined into my seat, note handy and expecting to be amazed for the rest of the night.

As the choir moves from one piece to the other, the the thick, God-evoking voice of the narrator, Harold Clousing, acts as transitions that connect one piece to another. As beauty and different colors are constantly in alternation, we hear mature sounding male voices sing their passages in unison, followed by the sonorous, lyricism of the female voices and a blend of SATB and full tutti. This is the case with songs like Ecce Novum by Ola Gjeilo. The silence and apt attention with which the audience listened to and gazed upon the choir as they vocally meander through lush, secundal harmonies in proper intonation, gives credence to the unseen effect and affect that the music was having. The feeling and emotions that Stille Nacht by Priano evokes is that of a feel good effect. The performance is dotted by vocal passages that bear a somber essence, hovering over a thin orchestra texture. The remarkable finesse of the cello player, whose mellow, tear-jerking contrapuntal passage, is hard to miss in this performance. This is even more visible as the orchestra and choir thins out in decrescendo while the soloist performs the last, passage over this beautiful cello line.

These characteristics are visible in all the songs. From How great thou art to to the final song of the evening, Holy, holy, holy, which featured the choir, orchestra, and audience singing together in a one big tutti. This last number towered above all else, as it assumes a larger than life music effect. The audience seemed to love their participation and were attuned the eternal and unseen substance of the piece, their musical taste was heightened by the image the song portrays. The image of a holy God, a God who is adored by even the most celestial beings, hence the question must have crossed their minds, if these beings would worship God, who am I, a mere mortal, that I would not do same. Voices joined in the song, from a dynamic piano level to a fortissimo outburst that filled the atmosphere. Some were in tears and you could tell that many were in awe of both the beautiful music unfolding in front of them, as well as the beautiful, invisible images they were conjuring up in their heads. It was followed by a short silence, a silence that was soon interrupted by a rapturous applause and eventually chit-chats and hellos, with a large smile of satisfaction plastered on the faces of proud parents and friends and colleagues. It was indeed a great night.

My overall take of this evening’s performance is that it was a good one and the quality of the music performed and the quality of the performing media was, to say the least, impressive. That does not in any way mean that everything went perfect, or that the music was without flaws. While there may have been flaws, it would appear that the choir and orchestra displayed a high level of professionalism in hiding them and making them less visible. Of course, to a professional ear, these flaws are noticeable, but the generality of the audience are proud parents, who are carried away by the feat their children were involved in to notice. They have been besmirched in a spell out of the strong filial love they possess for their sons and daughters. 

Occasional going flat, tinges of stage fright, wrong cues, tempo mismatches and not being in sync with the conductor’s cues are some of the flaws I noticed. This is dwarfed, though, in the face of the overtly impressive performance that the choir put up. I must note that the high point of this night’s performance was the flawless execution of that high pitch note which the soloist of Jingle Bell held, in tune for a while, to the amazement and thunderous applause of the audience.
Overall, it was indeed a tasteful night of musical bliss.