Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents I Hear America Singing: The Music of André Thomas and Greg Gilpin
West Orange High School Concert Choir (FL)
Jeffery Redding, Director
Greg Gilpin, Composer/Conductor; George Hemcher, Piano
André Thomas, Composer/Conductor; Kirsten Kemp, Piano
Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, New York, NY
March 19, 2017
Logistics! I suppose that sounds like a parcel delivery service, but what other word can there be for Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) massed-choir events? It takes a very special presenter to handle 485 choristers from twelve participating choirs nationwide (and international), NOT counting the opening choral group, which was separate. They are meticulously prepared by their individual conductors, then they travel to New York, in this case right after the recent blizzard, to work with the DCINY conductor(s). Lucky for audiences, DCINY does not disappoint, upholding a high level at all times.
The evening began with the West Orange High School Concert Choir, a Florida group. They seem to have been added after this concert was planned, for there were no program notes or credits for the excellent pianist. This is a shame, for this group really deserves an entire concert to itself. They were superbly sensitive, sang beautifully at soft dynamic levels, had clear diction, performed from memory, and the women were in floor-length black skirts and the men in white tie and tails (not often seen, but oh, so elegant). I had to keep reminding myself that this is a high school group. They exuded excitement with the opening Gloria Fanfare by Jeffery Ames. The standout was a gorgeous reading of Stephen Paulus’ The Road Home (with a lovely uncredited soprano solo): “With the love in your heart as the only song/There is no such beauty as where you belong.” In Kim André Arnesen’s Flight Song, the sight of joined hands in the entire ensemble was inspiring: “All we are we have found in song.”
There followed the Greg Gilpin section of the program, utilizing about half of the 485, including some very dear, very small grade schoolers, on up to what I presume were high schoolers, in the choir. They too sang everything from memory. Gilpin favors lots of antiphonal (“call and response”) trading off between sections, which is a lovely way to get young musicians to listen to each other. His music, if not blazingly original, is always well-crafted, and perfectly suited to developing esprit de corps and good choral singing. He also incorporates multi-cultural material with great taste, good exposure for young singers, including clapping and other rhythmic movement. The sight of the brightly colored scarves waving in the song about Hindi taffeta was beautiful. A small percussion section, a solo flute, and the violin concertmaster of the DCINY orchestra assisted.
After intermission, André Thomas took his half of the singers, a decidedly more mature choir, through a selection of his persuasive spiritual arrangements, original works, and even two sections (Gloria and Credo) from his Gospel Mass (sung in English, a work-in-progress, according to the program notes). By any measure, there just isn’t enough diversity on the usual concert stage, so it was good to hear this dedicated man, so engaging in his verbal remarks to the audience, and his music. The spiritual Keep Your Lamps was a stunning moment. In other works, this choir sang with the full DCINY orchestra, which sounded great but threatened to overbalance the large choir, and also reduced intelligibility of the text, a pity when the poets are Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman. Four female soloists (Gloria) and two male (Credo) were poised while singing on the main stage of Carnegie Hall for undoubtedly their first time.
There is another DCINY event tomorrow, different personnel in a different hall. I’d like to borrow their energy formula!
