It's very late in Cork, and it's been quite a day. The choir had a later than usual breakfast to allow for more sleep on the day of the actual competition. They had a short rehearsal late morning, mostly just a few reminders and perfecting a very few spots that still needed tiny adjustments. By now they have been working on and performing this repertoire for so long it has become part of their DNA. All that was left was the performance. AND THE SUN CAME OUT to make the day even better!
They were given the early afternoon to rest and find lunch, then we gathered at the bus for another 30 minute ride into Cork from our hotel. The choir went immediately into the holding room, while Casandria Crane (conductor's wife and tour manager extraordinaire) and I entered the hall to hear all but the first choir—we were too late for that performance.
I was immediately impressed by how much better all of the choirs sounded than they did last night. My guess is that they knew the repertoire better. Everyone looked more professional in their concert attire and stepped up their performances to match. It really was a pleasure to hear all the choirs, and very revelatory to hear how each conductor interpreted the repertoire requirements.
You might be interested in those requirements for this festival: applications were due by October 31, which means there was much time to prepare for this. Each choir needed to be amateur (not paid for their performances) "and the contrasting program must represent a historically-balanced and coherent range of styles and must include:
-a polyphonic work composed before 1750
-an original work by a living composer
-a work by a composer of the choir's native country"
For their portion of the competition, BYU Singers sang:
-"Crucifixus a 8" by Antonio Lotti
-"Creedman's Hymn" by Blake Wilson
-"Reggel" by György Ligeti
-"Amarroditos" by P. Belisario, M. Duran, arr. E. Herrera
"Crucifixus" has been a personal favorite for decades—this performance shined new light on it. It was very carefully taught and conducted so that every crescendo evolved naturally, with the appropriate intensity and attention to the text. Never overdone, it was performed as the gem of the Renaissance that it is. I hope there might be recordings of all of this performance available at some point, but we'll all have to wait to hear about that.
All the pieces were superbly sung, though the Ligeti had a different kind of beauty. The last piece was a real audience favorite—technically quite difficult, yet still very accessible with its rhythms and melody. The tune is from Argentina, it uses a Peruvian waltz form, and the composer is Cuban. The choir's choreography absolutely made the piece, and they deserve a lot of credit for singing it so well while still looking as if they were dancing effortlessly.
The audience was full of choirs, conductors, and choral aficionados. They were very enthusiastic and appreciative of the choir's performance. One lovely woman wrote this on our Facebook page: “Had the pleasure of seeing ye perform today in Cork City Hall at the choral festival. Hand on my heart ye are the best choir I have ever seen and I have seen many. Ye should be so proud of yourselves. I hope ye have enjoyed yourselves.” Can't you just hear that Irish lilt?? We will miss Ireland and the Irish when we leave.
BYU Singers were last to perform in the first group of 5 choirs during the afternoon; the remaining 5 performed this evening. Tomorrow late afternoon the judges will announce their choices.
Due to the lateness of this post and a very full day coming tomorrow, I will post a few images of only our choir's performance today. I got a kick out of the shades of blue background every time they are one stage. I don't know if someone knows about BYU blue, or it's happenstance. Either way, it's appropriate!
I took photos of all the choirs but one performing in the afternoon and evening, and perhaps I will add those later. But tonight we'll let BYU Singers have the spotlight; they deserve it after all their dedication, hard work, and artistry.
This is an extraordinary choir this year, and it has been a joy to attend their performances and fun to be at a few rehearsals to experience how the sausage is made. There was extra exacting attention to details, which made the pieces sparkle and sound new and exciting. It was possible to feel and see their love of performing together. But as often as I've heard these pieces, yesterday's performance felt as if I were hearing them for the first time. There is nothing like singing in an excellent choir!
**Remember that if you're on a computer, you may click the first photo to enlarge it, then proceed through the gallery at that larger size by using the arrows below the image. Click the "X" in the upper right to exit the large size.**
