By Jennifer Mustoe, with Hannah Siegfried and Craig Mustoe
BYU has incredible choirs, award-winning, renowned choirs, so it was with pleasure that we were able to see BYU School of Music‘s opening Choir Showcase in the beautiful de Jong Concert Hall on Tuesday night. I will say right now, my son is in BYU’s Men’s Chorus, so I may or may not sound biased here. Forgive me.
I haven’t been to a BYU choir concert since I graduated in 1990, I’m sorry to say. There is no excuse–I live in Spanish Fork. But this and that happened and years went by. You know how that goes. But now I’m back, watching my son perform, and it is fabulous to be back in the thick of what is considered one of the best university choral departments in the country.
The de Jong Concert Hall is gorgeous, housed in the Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC–pronounced H-fack), which also displays lovely student-produced art. As it’s the first of the school year, there weren’t tons of pieces on the walls of each of the several floors in the building, but a large, billowy display was in the center area of the ground floor. There’s always a lot of color in the HFAC, which makes it one of my favorite buildings on the BYU-Provo campus. The student staff that take tickets and give directions are always professional and friendly.
BYU’s four choirs were scheduled to perform. First up was BYU Women’s Chorus. Because we were in balcony seats, we were able to see the many, many women in the chorus come scurrying onto the risers from the front of the stage and from the stairs in the back. It was awesome. I mentioned to Hannah that it looked like a bunch of ants. Ants in sparkly tops and long black skirts. It provided just enough of the “Ah Factor” to get us excited for the show. BYU Women’s Chorus, conducted by Jean Applonie and accompanied by Deborah Robertson and Danai Udall, performed three pieces. All were lovely, and we heard a lot of “wows” whispered after each song. My favorite was “I Heard From Heaven Today”, a Traditional African-American Spiritual, arranged by Brent Wells, for its wonderful layers and startlingly perfect ending note. I love Woman’s Chorus and they are as good (or better) as when I went to school. I will also say, Applonie’s conducting style is so beautiful, it’s like I was watching a lovely dance.
BYU Concert Choir, conducted by Rosalind Hall, was up next. This is a group of 100 advanced singers, male and female, that perform more intricate and challenging pieces. Their performance in this concert was glorious, performing three songs, the first two in Latin. Each piece was more than lovely, the harmonies and energy were spectacular. My favorite that they performed was the hymn “Because I Have Been Given Much”, by Grace Noll Crowell, arranged by Hall and Ronald Staheli (the Concert Choir Director when I was in school.) I got a little teary during this final piece, and since it passed the weepy test, it had to be my favorite.
BYU Singers, conducted by Andrew Crane, is a group of 40 singers, and this group travels all over the world performing and competing. Theirs is the performance group that always astounds me. They are One Voice. By far, my favorite piece was “Avsenik Medley”, a Traditional Slovenian Polka. It was AWESOME. The music and the movement that went with it was fantastic. Everyone giddily applauded after this piece. What. Total. Fun. I admit, I only wish I could have hopped up on the stage and polkaed around.
BYU Men’s Chorus, also conducted by Hall, was the final group to perform, and again, the men all scrambled onto the risers so quickly, it seemed impossible that all 180 singers onto the stage. (And fun fact: BYU Men’s Chorus is thought to be the largest collegiate male choral organization in the country. I know when I went to school, there were far fewer in the chorus.) Each song they performed was strong, lovely, and amazing (yes, this mother is gushing a bit.) But their final piece, which will be part of the upcoming Homecoming Spectacular with Kristen Chenoweth on Saturday, was Music Man‘s “Seventy-Six Trombones.” It was choreographed by Megan Sanborn Jones from the Theater Department and it was DELIGHTFUL. All of the men were marching, pantomiming playing instruments, clapping. It was a whirlwind of sound and motion. Wonderful.
The Choral Showcase was closed with the Combined Choirs, conducted by Crane and accompanied by Jacob Hasler, singing “Come, Ye Children of the Lord.” The singers were all over the place–on the stage, up on the sides of our balcony–everywhere. We were sung to in stereo. It was just beautiful.
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Because I’m now back into the choir thing again, I will be going to all the concerts I can. This Saturday’s Homecoming Spectacular *may* be sold out, but if you can grab a ticket, go! Upcoming concerts are: BYU Singers and Concert Choir on November 8, BYU Men’s Chorus and Women’s Chorus on November 10-11, the glorious Celebration of Christmas (all choirs and the BYU Philharmonic) December 1-2, and University Chorale December 13.
There are tons of free music events happening on BYU Campus, so go to their calendar and find some performances that sound like something you’d like to attend. (Pun intended.) And Bravo to BYU’s choirs for a stunning and entertaining performance to start the 2017-2018 school year.
Brigham Young University College of Fine Arts and Communications, School of Music presented Choir Showcase
Brigham Young University Provo, Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo, UT 84602
Prices vary according to event
Contact: 801-422-4322
BYU School of Music Facebook Page
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