In preparation for Valentine’s day, the Whitworth music department combined the voices of the Whitworth Choir and the Whitworth Women’s Choir in their Music for Valentine’s Day concert. Taking place on Feb. 13 at 8 p.m., this love-themed showcase of student voices drew in a crowd larger than the Storm Choral Rehearsal Room could hold.
The Whitworth Women’s Choir kicked off the concert with “This Little Light of Mine”, lead by the Women’s Choir director, Debbie Hansen and sophomore Polina Beymanov on piano.
The Women’s Choir followed up “This Little Light of Mine” with “Kala Kalla”, from Five Hebrew Love Songs, which was accompanied by Philip Baldwin on the violin and Kyle Caldwell on the tambourine.
Freshman and alto, Lauren Montague commenting on the process of learning and performing “Kala Kalla”, said that the process was “pretty hard because it was so fast, and the alto section was very difficult because the verses weren’t the same every time.”
Performances by six soloists and an a capella quartet added variety to the choral performance, each performing pieces that dealt with different takes on love and romance.
The Whitworth Choir took the stage following four solo performances under the direction of Marc Hafsø.They performed a total of four pieces, which took many hours of rehearsal and practice to prepare.
“Even outside of rehearsals, students still worked to learn music on their own, and get things just right with their own free time, sophomore Evan Shenk said.
“The hardest piece for the Whitworth Choir to learn was Carol Barnett’s arrangement of an old folk song, ‘Cindy’,” said Shenk, “The piece is filled with seemingly small nuances such as changes in meter, but it makes a big difference when we really nail them down all together.”
As a grand finale, both choirs combined to perform “Still I Will Love” by Shaina Taub. Members of the choir stood among the audience to sing, filling the room with voices from all directions .
“The women’s choir barely had any time rehearsing “Still I Will Love”, but I still loved the harmonies and the resonance at the end,” said Montague.
The Whitworth Choir will be hosting a spring concert in April, and The Whitworth Women’s Choir in May. More details will be released as spring approaches.
