Artist at the Fair: Cantus

The Minnesota men's vocal ensemble, Cantus, will perform at the Minnesota Public Radio booth at the Minnesota State Fair on Thursday, Aug. 31. Zac Colby, a member of Cantus, spoke with Classical MPR ahead of the group's performance.

What do you enjoy, or what has been a highlight since you've joined Cantus?

Our ensemble is incredibly unique in that we have had the opportunity to be co-artistic directors. And, for a singer, especially one fresh out of grad school or beginning their career, it's incredibly unique to be able to perform at such a high level at venues like the Kennedy Center and international tours and be able to really craft and shape a program, it's sort of unheard of. Normally, you go into the conductor model and do what the conductor says and you're at that person's mercy whether they are respectful of what you want to do or not. So, it's been really exciting to be able to create and craft in our way.

I know that Cantus do take turns producing and conducting a song of their choice. Did you have any experience conducting before you joined the group?

You know, all of us have had a little; it ranges and varies. I certainly had an undergrad in music education and I took conducting courses, but I certainly didn't have a ton of experience. I'd say that's something that I've really grown on. It's interesting in that we don't really conduct in the sort of traditional way. We are not waving our arms. We are, as a group, deciding on how something is going to go and then we pass the conducting parts around. So, if you have a moving line, then you're in charge of sort of showing that basically with your head or with some eye contact. It's not the traditional sort of conducting that you'd expect.

So how do you think that this is going to translate into your performance at the Minnesota State Fair?

Well, it's always an exciting time. We did this last year. You have to listen over the Tilt-a-Whirl and all of the other exciting things that are going on at the fair. We like to think that we are a Minnesota fixture and that we have a place at the fair as part of our community. As we do represent the state all around the world. It's definitely an outdoor festival experience and it's not going to be concert-hall acoustic, but we have some rep[ertoire] that we think will be really fun and will translate well there.

What sort of things do you do to prepare for a performance at the State Fair, since there is all of these activities and noises all around you?

The biggest thing for us is hearing and listening, and when you're tuning chords or when you're trying to follow a moving part line or thinking about interpretation, expressing what the piece happens to be about, it's all about your ears. We are lucky that Minnesota Public Radio has an incredible sound engineer and we sing on microphones for this performance. Cantus don't typically sing on a mic. In concert halls, we are acoustic. We do have a concert series here in the Twin Cities in the summer called "Covers" and we work with a sound engineer and we are all on a microphone. So, we have that "mode" of working and performing. We turn on those microphone ears. And typically, we rehearse for five hours a day, five days a week.

Can you share the name of a piece or two that you will be performing at the Minnesota State Fair?

Sure — we are going to be doing really sort of fun things that are very Minnesotan. They are American folk music. "There's a Meetin' Here Tonight" is arranged by Joe and Eddie as well as "Yonder Come Day" which is a Georgia Sea Island Spiritual. Cantus are about to leave on Monday for an Asian tour. We are going to be previewing a piece called "Arirang," which is a traditional Korean song, as well as other music from a big show we have coming up at Orchestra Hall on Sept. 21.

When you do performances in different countries or different venues, if there's not a predetermined theme for that concert, do you usually choose music that is relevant to the venue or the country that you're in?

The State Fair performance is a little unusual in that it's catered to our home audience who get to see us through the whole year. Typically, we sing a show as a piece. We believe in programming that takes the audience on not only a musical journey, but also an emotional journey. Our fall program this year is called "The Discovery of Sight," and that's what we'll be performing around the world. That is about discovering one's own sight in many different ways. Is it about blindness, is it about self-discovery, is it about truly being able to see? That is the program that will be around the world. Then we'll be doing a show this spring in the Twin Cities called "For the Beauty of the Earth," which is largely based on conservation. That's how our programming is structured for things like the State Fair. You'll get a taste of all those programs.

When you're done with your performance at the State Fair, what are some of your state fair must-haves?

The deep-fried Snickers bar is definitely on my radar. I'm definitely a fan of the beer tasting. I'm not really a ride person, I kind of just eat and leave. I like going into the 4H building and seeing what people have been doing in the art exhibits.

Visit the MPR booth at the corner of Judson and Nelson on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 1 p.m., to see Cantus's live performance. If you're not at the fair, you can hear the live broadcast of Cantus on Classical MPR. Alison Young hosts.