Today's audio come from the Mound-Westonka Concert Choir performance at the 2015 Minnesota Music Educators Association mid-winter clinic. The ensemble is directed by Kate Larson.
• 7:15 a.m. — Claudio Monteverdi: Cantate Domino
• 7:15 p.m. — Traditional French-Canadian arr. Stephen Hatfield: Bobinom' Saintom'
• Bonus online track — A.R. Rahman arr. Ethan Sperry: Balleilakka
Singing in choir (participating in any ensemble, really) is about more than just learning notes and rhythms. It requires teamwork, dedication, patience, and good communication, all of which are good skills to apply to life outside of the classroom. These are some of the things that Mound-Westonka Concert Choir students cited as valuable when they were asked by Director Kate Larson, "Why Stay in Choir?" She wanted to pass on their wisdom to incoming middle school students. The process of making a piece of music performance-ready is incredibly complex. Of course, there are the technical aspects like phrase-shaping, dynamic choices, and word stress, but even more than that, the students must communicate with each other in rehearsal to analyze, interpret, and reflect upon the composer's intent so that they can ultimately deliver it in a meaningful and unique way to their audience. The joy of working together toward a beautiful common goal is what makes being in an ensemble so worthwhile.
The Mound-Westonka Concert Choir is comprised of 47 students in grades 9-12. Meeting every day for 48 minutes, they sing a wide variety of literature ranging from Renaissance to contemporary music. Minnesota composers are not left out of their repertoire, with works by Stephen Paulus and Jocelyn Hagen both having been recently performed.
Not an ensemble to shy away from a challenge, two pieces from their performance at the 2015 Minnesota Music Educators Association mid-winter clinic were particularly tricky lyrically. Bobinom' Saintom' is an arrangement of a Québécois song from the Ottawa Valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Québec. Songs from this region were gathered by ethnologist Lucien Ouellet in a collection known as "Les voix de la Vallée de l'Outaouais," and are not as well known as other French-Canadian songs. Often sung by the men of the region (many of whom worked as loggers) the lyrics detail the trials of the tough labour and also contain off-hand religious references. The lyrics in this song are half-nonsense based on the words "bobbin" and "saint." Another song that the Concert Choir performed was in the Tamil language of southern India and Sri Lanka, one of the oldest surviving classical languages in the world. The song, "Balleilakka," comes from the 2007 Tamil film "Sivaji" about a man who returns home to India after living in the U.S. and wants to establish non-profit education and hospitals. However he faces a corrupt system and he must fight the competition to realise his dream.
As well as performing at MMEA this year, the Concert Choir was one of six high school choirs selected to sing at the 10th Annual Minnesota Choral Arts Finale at Orchestra Hall a few weeks ago. They also completed a tour in New York City with the Mound-Westonka Concert Band in March, as part of their bi-annual tour plan. Their final concert of the year was last week on May 18, but they will perform as well at the Mound-Westonka High School graduation ceremony on May 31.
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