The Chico State Department of Music and Theatre held a choir concert, featuring Chico State’s Chamber Singers and Acappella Choir, Saturday at the Harlen Adams Theatre.
The concert, titled, “And the Earth Sings,” was held in part to commemorate Earth Day, so many of the songs carried themes and metaphors that referenced the natural world and the Earth.
Both the choirs were conducted by Dr. David Scholz, accompanied by Clark Minor on the piano.
The Chamber Singers were the first to take the stage and performed eight songs.
One song that the Chamber Singers performed, titled, “From Where the Sun Now Stands,” is a five-part song inspired by Native American poetry. The song’s lyrics described the hunter-gatherer aspect of Native American life, and how the Native Americans embraced the Earth and the land that they lived on.
Another song they performed, titled, “Zigeunerleben,” which means “A Gypsy Life” in German, was performed entirely in German.
The Chamber Singers finished their portion of the concert by performing an acapella rendition of The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”
The Acapella Choir, which featured many members of the Chamber Singers, followed the Chamber Singers.
Much like the Chamber Singers, the Acappella Choir also performed songs referring to the natural world with lyrics that embrace the Earth.
However, one song stood out from the rest.
An African song, titled, “Kasar Mie La Gaji,” or “The Earth is Tired” in native African dialect, only had one line that was repeated throughout the song. Though the song had limited lyrics,it was arranged in a manner in which the song’s tempo would increase as the sound progressed from soft to loud, truly conveying a sense of intensity throughout the song.
Before the Acapella Choir performed their last song, Dr. Scholz announced the names of the graduating members of both choirs and bid them good luck in a heartfelt manner.
Though “And the Earth Sings” is the last choir concert of the year, School of the Arts is curating one last performance for the semester.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, this year’s spring musical production, will hold its opening night on Thursday, May 2.
Angel Ortega can be reached at [email protected] and @AngelOrtegaNews on Twitter.
