2008 Woodie Awards
Spring Concert a musical delight
Review of Lakeland frauenchor and concert choir
Joel Nisleit
Issue date: 4/24/03 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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 Dr. Arthur Johnson, assistant professor of music education, accompanies the choir on piano during the concert April 13. |
Notable was the soaring performance of "The Prayer," a duet sung by Carrie Houk, soprano, and Alan Grulkowski, tenor. This is a popular piece often performed by singers like Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.
Dr. Arthur Johnson, assistant professor of music education, followed the duet with a crisp performance of three Chopin preludes. As much of a Chopin fan as I am, hearing Chopin played live can be nothing less than exciting, and Johnson did a great job as he did with Beethoven in last fall's concert.
There were several other stirring numbers as well, particularly "Adiemus" from "Songs of Sanctuary" by Karl Jenkins. The piece involved African drums and rain sticks. Such drums are used in music method classes and at music camp to teach world drumming, said Janet Herrick-Stuczynski, associate professor of music.
Jonathan Eifert, organist, performed "Toccata" from "Suite Gothique," bellowing ominous, bassy tones from the giant organ.
All the pieces together seemed to make for a very diverse concert. Indeed, though Herrick-Stuczynski said there was no asserted theme, one could say it was a world theme.
The concert overall seemed well put together, arguably better than last fall's concert. And the pieces resonated after the concert was over, provoking thought-a sign of good work, or really bad work, but I would go with the former in this case. It would be interesting to see productions continue to escalate in magnitude and difficulty. Though it would take a symphony orchestra to put on something like Carl Orff's "O Fortuna," "Adiemus" could be thought of as a simulation of such an effect.
"Both choirs sang very, very well. They have grown more in technical ability and in artistry than any choirs I can recall during my time at Lakeland. Their outstanding work ethic has made this possible," said Herrick-Stuczynski.
Those qualities Herrick-Stuczynski named, coupled with a stirring and entertaining arrangement, are what made this spring's concert "stick."
Graduating seniors who were in the concert are Amanda Methfessel, Tessa Lulloff, Christine Noack, Brian Charbonneau, Naoki Sakamoto, and Jessica Brunette.