By: Breanna Sampo & Grace Gross, Editor in Chief
Featured Image retrieved from @mckendreemusic on Instagram
The McKendree Chamber Choir celebrated Women’s History Month with a beautiful concert in the Piper Academic Center lobby on Friday, March 24th. Dr. McDonald, assistant Professor of Music Education, featured songs written and composed by women, and English Professor Dr. Muller read several poems written by women.
This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is celebrating women who tell our stories. Dr. McDonald selected wonderful pieces that spoke to the essence of the theme. The first poem read was “Canary” by Rita Dove. This poem commemorates the life of Billie Holiday, who was an African American jazz singer who wrote protest songs for the Civil Rights Movement as she detailed accounts of lynching in the South. Rita Dove’s poem utilizes diction, content, and images to glorify the influential “Lady Day” – also known as Billie Holiday.
Following this poem, the choir performed their first song, “To Sit and Dream.” The music was written by Rosephanye Powell. Within the first 10 minutes of the concert, audience members could feel the emotion and power behind the voices which resonated through the room.
Soloists worked on their pieces for several weeks in private lessons preparing for their spotlight debut. Sami Elling, junior Music Performance major, had a voice of an angel as she performed two songs: “Why Write?” by Barbara Crooker and “Used Book” text by Julie Kane. Sami stated, “It was an honor getting to perform as part of the celebration of Women’s History Month! It was fascinating to learn about how women have made our world the way it is!”
Gabi Cuba, a freshman Music Education major with a vocal emphasis, continued the elegant music by soloing on the song “Vanne felice rio” by Louise Reichardt. Her music selection highlighted the importance of sharing songs and stories of women composers who give insight into different cultural and historical perspectives on love. Gabi expressed her experience at this concert, “It was a wonderful opportunity to sing with amazing people to celebrate a special moment as a feminist during Women’s History Month.”
To conclude the soloist section of the concert, Laura Dismer, a sophomore Music Education major with a vocal emphasis, sang two pieces in foreign languages: Mots d’amour” by Cécile Chaminade and “Aria from Vuo cercando” by Rosa Giacinta Badalla, which provided some much-appreciated diversity to the music.
Laura said, “I really enjoyed the fact we were in a unique space for this performance and how it was all dedicated to women composers through various decades. It really showcases how much women have impacted the musical world in terms of poetry and performance. The opportunity to perform a solo in such a space and for this concert was definitely something I am grateful for and hope to do again. I’m glad so many people enjoyed our performance.”
Continuing on accentuating diversity, the full choir came back together to sing a few more pieces that varied in rhyme, style, and composer biography. “Time” by Jennifer Lucy Cook was an energizing piece that demonstrated the musicians’ ability to sing while clicking their tongues. This factor added a very unique style and complex rhyme to the song as the tempo picked up and intensity increased.
“Personally, the song that hit my heart the hardest was ‘They Are Mother’ composed by Jennifer Lucy Cook,” states Breanna Sampo. This song is described as “a joyous, playful celebration of loving, all-inclusive creator – Mother Nature.” This piece captures the nonbinary and nonsingular mystery and grandeur of the divine creating force of Mother Nature as it combines a blend of traditional choral vocal techniques with elements of modern pop singing. The applause that followed the choir’s performance of this song erupted immediately, which demonstrated the immense appreciation for the composer and the choir’s phenomenal voices.
