Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) presents Sounds of a New Generation-An Evening with James Martin High School, Arlington, TX
Martin High School Chorale, Kay Owens, Director; Martin Wind Symphony, Brad McCann, Director; Martin High School Symphony Orchestra, Michael Stringer, Director
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
March 21, 2016
Maybe everything really is bigger in Texas, including the hearts of high-school musicians and their music educators. Such a fine evening of choral, band, and orchestral music was presented on Monday, March 21, and it was supported throughout by loud acclamation from parents, friends, and co-students that filled Carnegie Hall in what will certainly remain a vivid memory for their whole lives.
The concert began with the Martin High School Chorale, under the expert leadership of Kay Owens, a thirty-three year veteran of choral music. Brent Pierce’s Hosanna in Excelsis provided the perfect opening, energetic and glamorous, but with nuance, announcing the credentials of the group.
Other highlights were: By the Waters of Babylon by Edwin Fissinger, the moving text involved whispering, which imparted a mysterious quality to the whole. Dúlamán by Michael McGlynn followed, using only the male voices. It is an Irish seaweed-gathering chanty from the potato-famine era. Then the female voices had their turn with Hope Is . . . by Randy Jordan, its Emily Dickinson poem sensitively rendered. By the way, the choral diction was crystal clear all evening, no small accomplishment.
This part of the program closed with the inspirational It Takes a Village by Joan Szymko, with a small ensemble of boys taken from the choir to solo, and also using a few traditional African percussion instruments.
After DCINY’s famous “brief pause,” the Martin High School Wind Symphony, conducted by Brad McCann, tackled one of the pillars of the repertoire: Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber. Although from where I was seated the first section (Allegro) was a bit cloudy in texture, I didn’t know whether to blame Hindemith or the young players. However, the second and fourth movements were absolutely crisp and exciting, and the somber third movement was also very good.
After intermission, the Martin High School Symphony Orchestra appeared, although it wasn’t conducted by its billed music director until the third selection. First, an uncredited woman led the group in Dvořák’s well-known Carnival Overture. I did feel it was played too fast for clarity in the hall’s acoustic, but the second theme area showed astonishing maturity in the phrasing of the strings and the overall burnished tone one usually finds only in professional adult groups. The quiet central section, scored more like chamber music, gave ample opportunity for solo wind players to shine.
A different woman then took the stage and led the orchestra in a string rendition of Puccini’s pop-iconic aria for tenor, Nessun dorma, from his opera Turandot. Yes, I know Aretha Franklin sang it at the Grammys one year, but this prospect of an aria shorn of its words I was not looking forward to. However, once again, those strings showed a great maturity and passion in what they were given to work with, although one missed the squillo of a fine Italian tenor (and the expansion of the tempo) for the “Vincerò!” exultant cries at the end.
Finally, Michael Stringer came out to direct the Finale from Rachmaninoff’s ill-fated and not often performed Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13. This work caused such consternation in Rachmaninoff’s teachers and peers that it almost caused him a complete nervous breakdown, and did lead to a several-year hiatus from composing. The orchestra played the difficult passages and abrupt transitions with which this music abounds with rhythmic clarity. Even their enthusiasm couldn’t help it totally though, and I found myself at times agreeing with Glazunov that it was incoherent. But let me add that’s not the fault of Martin High, who delivered completely appropriate high-wattage bombast.
James Meaders, conductor and now associate director of DCINY then led the group, plus full choir in two movements (The Spheres [Kyrie] and Sunrise [Gloria]) of Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, the second time I’ve heard this work in less than one month. This must be Mr. Gjeilo’s “moment,” and it’s a good thing. As I sat listening to music that was now familiar to me, I couldn’t help but marveling: was I really hearing a better performance than the one earlier in the month by adult choirs and a professional orchestra? By golly, I was! The choral singing was superb, and the blend of orchestra and choir was perfect. Dynamic shadings were stunning, and the whole enterprise held up the promise of mystical involvement not only with religion, but with all of nature.
A final, sort of “built-in” encore was the Gloria by Randol Alan Bass, which despite committed playing and singing sounded rather trite after the glories of the Gjeilo.
The concert was dedicated to the memory of Taylor Renee Helland, a 19-year-old cancer patient (and 2014 graduate of Martin High), who just passed away in February. Her mantra was “choose joy” and that’s what the musicians did. What a beautiful tribute for her friends to make music with such youthful passion. Thank you, Martin High.
