I am beyond proud to say that last night, St Andrew’s College won the Palladian Vocal Ensemble event. Andrew’s traditionally goes into this event with music drawn from our regular performance programs; that is to say, our music trends away from the popular towards the contemporary classical. This music might be rewarding to perform, but isn’t often rewarded in the Palladian context. Recent attempts to try the popular line didn’t land, so last night we went with our hearts and offered two works by young icons of the contemporary classical field – Boys Choir with ‘Ubi Caritas’ by Norwegian-American Ola Gjeilo, and Chapel Choir with Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds’ ’Stars’.
Since 2021, Chapel Choir repertoire has been chosen and led exclusively by choir members. Boys Choir, also formed in 2021 by Matthew Hingston, is entirely student-led. Student leadership not only requires the ensembles to step up their musical game, both individually and collectively, but has bonded both groups into intuitive and close-knit ensembles. It has been of profound satisfaction to me to step back and watch these ensembles develop. My role now has been largely to suggest occasional ways to finesse performances – and to tune a dozen wine-glasses.
Ešenvalds’ ’Stars’ is a contemporary classic, with poetry by Pulitzer-Prize winner Sara Teasdale, and using Tibetan singing bowls and tuned wine glasses to create a kind of ‘music of the spheres’ underpinning the voices. Choral scholar Elise Nolte chose and led this work for the University & Schools chapel service in May, where Boys Choir also debuted ‘Ubi Caritas’. As Elise is heading off on exchange to the Royal College of Music in London, I had the privilege of conducting ’Stars’ last night.
Both performances were completely different to the other music on offer. Under Matthew’s direction, and with keen input from all its members, Boys Choir goes from strength to strength. They were particularly commended for their magnificent final ‘Amen’, which reverberated through the Holme Refectory. They received a Highly Commended.
Even backstage, it was clear to me that Chapel Choir is in a different league than when I started at College over ten years ago. I’ve stood in front of some very fine performances, but the focus and calm of the choir pre-performance carried through to every moment on stage. There was no point where the ensemble felt anything other than like it belonged together, even though the acoustic is such that not every singer could hear their colleagues properly. The performance was genuine, responsive, technically accomplished, and just a joy to stand in front of. The judges said it took them to another place – that it was like listening to the stars.
The nature of these ensembles is that every member contributes, but I would particularly like to acknowledge Charlotte MacDonald for her work with the Chapel Choir, and Matthew Hingston for establishing Boys Choir. I’d also like to thank Wayne and everyone who supports our ensembles, especially our Student Life team for all the unseen and unsung backstage work they do to make sure we can rehearse and perform at our best. And finally, my congratulations to the other college ensembles. Although I was backstage, I heard that Women’s, in second place, gave a stand-out performance, and the other items I did see had obviously involved a lot of hard work to get some sizeable ensembles and detailed performances together.
Head of Creative Arts, Sarah Penicka-Smith