Hofstra Chorale and Chamber Concert Review.

As a member of the Hofstra University Chorale, I know how much work and dedication goes into each performance that is done at the end of every semester in the beautiful Garden City Cathedral.  Last Friday, the 27th of April, we had our Spring Semester concert, and I must say that it was my favorite one yet.

The seats were packed, and the sound that resonated through the cathedral was just as beautiful as the first time I heard us sing inside it.  The sound that comes out of us, the way it sounds to the audience is such a wonderful thing.  The fact that together, we can sound so beautiful and be able to communicate to the crowd with our music is something very special, and it's a great gift to have.

"Our goal is to express ourselves musically as a group," says Dr. David Fryling, conductor of the Hofstra University Chorale. "To express, is actually a one person term.  Our goal really is to..communicate. We want to communicate with people through the music that we have to share."

Preparation for this magical night began day one of the Spring Semester.  Tons of students auditioned: some made it, and others We were given our six pieces, and we began learning them right away.  We worked each song to the bone two days a week, an hour and a half a day for two months.  Each song we learned throughout the semester had a different meaning to it, and a very special quality about it.

"Afternoon on A Hill" is a piece by the young Colin Britt, that have the lyrics of a poem written by Edna St. Vincent Millay.  It's a beautiful piece with such a calm and loving sound to it.  The poem is about the beauty that is around us, and how we should never take that for granted, and that we should just enjoy the days that we do have.  The music behind the poem most certainly does help convey this message.  It's all so wonderful, and relaxing. It was definitely one of favorites of our songs for the evening.

Other songs we did were:

1. "Daemon Irrepit Callidus" by Casals.
2. "The Pasture".
3. "Nigra Sum".
4. "Sounding Sea".
5. (My Favorite) "Sweetheart of The Sun".
6. "Pseudo Yoik".

The Chamber Ensemble, which consists of about 40 of the 80 singers up on the stage also sang some songs. I'm not apart of that group, but everything that they sang was absolutely wonderful.  The whole night was great, one of my favorite performances that we've done so far.

Slideshow!