Gettysburg College Choir Hosts Tour Home Concert after Costa Rica Trip
By Ella Prieto, Assistant News Editor
Choir Performing in Paul Recital Hall (Photo Ella Prieto/The Gettysburgian)
On Saturday, the Gettysburg College Choir hosted their Tour Home Concert in Paul Recital Hall from 8 to 9:30 p.m. They performed various songs from their most recent tour to Costa Rica, which took place over spring break.
The concert began with applause from the audience and a performance of “The Unexpected Early Hour.” Following the song, Conductor and Associate Professor of Music Robert Natter spoke to the audience about their tour of Costa Rica.
Natter said, “The focus of our concert is music by Latin American composers, including composers of Costa Rica, Mexico, and Cuba, but also United States composers who have written in Spanish.”
Next, the choir sang “Mañanitas de mi Tierra,” which describes the beautiful warming in Costa Rica. Following this, the group sang “Esto Les Digo” with a solo from Atzlani Maguffee ’25, which Sally Fetterman ’24 conducted. This song was also dedicated to Jamilynne McCabe ’25, a member of the choir who had to leave school this semester due to a diagnosis of leukemia.
“We chose this piece because the song translates to ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be in their midst,’’’ said presenter Devyn Wesolowski ’25. “And we felt like that captured the emotions during this rough time.”
The choir then sang “Congorí Shangó.” This song is about the Afro-Costa Rican people who were enslaved, yet continued to believe in their Yoruba traditions which are still practiced today. During the song, the choir also performed a dance that was taught to them by a school choir in Costa Rica.
After “Congorí Shangó” Camerata, the advanced ensemble, performed multiple songs, including “Java Jive,” “If I Had My Way,” “Que No Mueran” and “Son de la Vida.”
The full College Choir joined the stage again to perform the American-Spanish song “Canto que Amabas.” Following this, they sang “Fire,” which has no text but gives the audience a feeling of anger, frustration, confusion, fear, and grief.
“Fire” was also originally performed by the College Choir during their tour in March 2020, which was unfortunately interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some choir alumni from that era were in the audience, and they were all invited up to the stage, where a performance of the Gettysburg College Alma Mater took place.
Next was a performance of “Beautiful Savior,” a song the choir performs every year. This year, they translated it into Spanish to properly share the meaning with their Costa Rican audiences. It also featured solos from all of the senior members of the Choir, who were Natalie Dolan ’23, Laura Duffy ’23, Sebastian Garcia ’23, Anderson Gray ’23, Zane Kazmarski ’23, Danielle Kleinberg ’23, Sophia Low ’23, Kerri Peoples ’23 and Lily Zhou ’23.
The choir then sang “El Guayaboso.” They ended with the song “Tipitin,” which featured a balcony solo from Adela Holahan ’24.
The concert concluded with a standing ovation from the audience.
