By Ella Prieto, Editor-in-Chief
On Friday, the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College presented “Illuminare” (Latin for “to light up”), a Winter Choral Concert in Christ Chapel. Songs were performed by the four chambers: College Choir, Concert Choir, Audeamus and Camerata. Director of Choral Activities Robert Natter conducted. Student Christian Keller ’27 also performed “La Réjousissance” from “Music for the Royal Fireworks” as an organist.
Concert Choir, made up of Gettysburg Students and community members, began the concert with “And the Glory of the Lord” from “Messiah” written by George Frideric Handel. Adjunct Instructor Tim Foster accompanied them on the piano. Concert Choir followed with the poem “Tyger” by William Blake, arranged for music by Elaine Hagenberg. Their next song, “Seasons”, was also a poem, written by Charles Anthony Silvestri and arranged by Ola Gjeilo. They concluded with the spiritual “Come and Go to That Land” arranged by Brandon Boyd.
Students from Concert Choir performing. (Photo Alice Van Etten/The Gettysburgian)
Audeamus, the College’s upper-voice choir, took over, accompanied by pianist Scott Crowne. Their first song was “Blow, Blow, thou Winter Wind”, written by William Shakespeare and featured in “As You Like It”, arranged by Jennifer Lucy Cook, and “Orion” by Faith Zimmer and arranged by Susan LaBarr. The performance featured a solo by Skylar Scott ’28 and percussion by Paz Tamayo ’28. They next sang “Ščedryk” a Ukrainian folk song arranged by Mykola Leontovych. The song, performed in Ukrainian and English, is a carol for the New Year, celebrating good fortune and hope. It also served as inspiration for the famous “Carol of the Bells”. Natter thanked Natalie Saraieva for her help with the Ukrainian language and history. Audeamus concluded with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, arranged by Jacob Navarud.
Students from Audeamus performing.(Photo Alice Van Etten/The Gettysburgian)
Camerata, the small vocal chamber group, was next with their performance of “Ocho Kandelikas” by Flory Jajoda, arranged by Thom Mariner. The song celebrates the holidays of Hannukkah, sung in Ladino, a Spanish-derived language traditionally associated with the Sephardic Jewish community. Their next two songs were “Once Upon A Time” by Charles Strouse, arranged by Paul Langford, and “Ding Dong Merrily on High” by French Carol, arranged by Kirby Shaw.
Students in Camerata performing. (Photo Alice Van Etten/The Gettysburgian)
College Choir was the last of the chambers to perform, beginning with “A Rianxiera” by Vicente Chavarria, sung in Galician Spanish and featuring solos from Aydan Pronovost ’28 and Sydney Topoleski ’27. Next was “Ave Maris Stella” by Trong Kverno, sung in Latin, and “The Snow is Deep on the Ground” written by Kenneth Patchen and arranged by Katie Kring. College Choir concluded with “Abreme La Puerta” by Cristian Grases. The song, performed in Spanish, is about the Puerto Rican tradition “parranda” where singers go from house to house asking people to let them in for drinks and food.
The concert concluded with selections of “Illuminaire” by Elaine Hagenberg performed by College Choir and Concert Choir. It included lesser-known sacred Latin texts to represent a journey of glorious light disrupted by darkness. However, the light returns, creating a wonderful note to end the night.
