By Noah Simkiss, Staff Writer
The Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College held the Fall Choir Concert on Friday, Nov. 1 in the Paul Recital Hall. The concert featured Audeamus, Camerata, Concert Choir and College Choir.
Directed by Robert Natter and accompanied by pianists Scott Crowne and Tim Foster, the choirs brought to life a range of autumnal themes such as camaraderie and community, the passing of time and eerie magic.
The audience — which included prospective students and their families attending the Conservatory’s open house — could barely be contained by the recital hall, and people lined the walls to enjoy the concert once every seat was taken.
Concert Choir was the first to perform and opened with “Where the Light Begins” by Susan Labarr, a hopeful and reflective piece with lyrics taken from a poem by Jan Richardson. In their other song, an arrangement of “The Storm is Passing Over” by Charles Albert Tindley, an upbeat piano accompaniment and staccato syllables gave it an energetic, triumphant sound.
In between choirs, James Day, the current director of the Sunderman Conservatory, took the stage, taking a moment to thank the donors who had made the recital hall’s recent aesthetic and acoustic renovations possible.
The two donors specifically thanked by Day were Sidney Ehrhart ’50, who was watching the concert via YouTube livestream, and Mary E. Cowden ’70, who was in the audience.
The next choir to perform was Audeamus, the college’s upper-voice choir. According to Holly Vollman ’26, who introduced the choir, their three songs were united by the theme of finding community through the journey of life.
The first two songs were “Sea Fever” by Daniel Brinsmead and “Flight” by Craig Carnelia, and the audience was asked to hold their applause between the songs in order to appreciate their shared themes of camaraderie and freedom. The third song, “Voice of the Ancients” by Don MacDonald, used abstract syllables instead of words, giving it a sense of timelessness and universality.
Aubrey Mandichak ’26, a member of both Concert Choir and Audeamus, reflected on the concert, “During rehearsals, Audeamus strung together our songs to tell a story about setting out to do something great and ultimately finding community in the journey. I like to think that the act of performing tells the same story.”
After Audeamus, the next choir to perform was the small vocal chamber group, Camerata, whose three songs were tied together by themes of the passage of time.
“Wanting Memories” by Ysaÿe Barnwell was the first song, which explored the way that relationships with parents and grandparents change and grow over time. Next, the choir sang “Autumn Leaves,” a song by Joseph Kosma that uses the imagery of Autumn to speak about losing a loved one.
The final song for this group was “Time” by Jennifer Lucy Cook, which explores the anxiety and pressure of never having enough time. By repeating the lyrics of the song with more words removed each time, the choir created a genuine sense of urgency and franticness.
After Camerata, the College Choir took the stage. Their first song was “Ubi Caritas” by Ola Gjeilo, an ancient Latin song whose opening line translates to, “Where charity and love are, God is there.” Second, the choir sang Jacob Naverud’s “Alleluia,” exploring emotions of awe and wonder in just a single word.
College Choir’s third song was “Double, Double Toil and Trouble” by Jaako Mäntyjärvi, with words taken from the witch’s chant in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Before the choir began singing, the lights in the recital hall were dimmed, leaving the performers lit only in an eerie blue. In the words of Kate Sallee ’25, who introduced the choir, the song “captures the unsettling thrill of enchantment.”
Next, the choir sang “Love is Here to Stay” by George and Ira Gershwin, which celebrates love standing firm through ups and downs in life.
The last song of the night was Mozart’s “Gloria” from the Mass in C-major, performed by both College Choir and Concert Choir. In addition to the voices of both choirs, the song featured soloists Sydney Topoleski ’27, Katie Polerio ’25, Scott Myers ’27 and Michael Tropp ’25.
“The voices were powerful,” remarked Kersey Jones ’27, a member of Concert Choir. “The energy in Gloria was immaculate, completely unmatched.”
The performance of “Gloria” was a preview for the Conservatory’s Winter Concert, where College Choir and Concert Choir will be performing Mozart’s Mass in C-major at the Chapel on Dec. 6.
