By Cristina Galvan
The East Los Angeles College Choir and the Chamber Chorale got audiences ready for the holidays with their annual Christmas Choral concert last Monday in the S2 recital hall.
Dr. Anthony Lupica gracefully conducted the concert while Dr. Lucy Nargizyan played the piano.
The ELAC College Choir opened the concert with the song, ‘A Sound of Angeles’ by Christopher Tye. The song was written in the 16th century.
Dr. Lupica said that he incorporated tunes from various time periods into the concert.
The next piece was Sergei Rachmaninov’s Borgoroditse Devo, which was written in the 18th century. The song is a Russian Translation for the Ave Maria.
Lupica described the song as “very romantic.”
The college choir also performed The Infant King, Once in Royal David’s City and Hark! The Herald Angel Sing.
Following the choir, the ELAC Chamber Chorale performed.
The first song they performed was Norte Père which is French for Our Father.
The song was written by Maurice Durufle. Dr. Lupica says “his “(Durufle) music has delicacy.”
Norte Père was followed by the songs, Ubi Caritas and Tantum Ergo which were also also written by Durufle.
Tantum Ergo was a nice smooth song with a pleasing ending. The Chamber Chorale also sang Nänie which was composed by Johannes Brahms.
Brahm’s also wrote the text for Ludwig van Beethoven 9th Symphony. Nänie is not a Christmas song “however the text is beautiful says, Dr. Lupica.
He also said that the song is “very heartfelt.” While listening to the song audiences can agree. This piece was one of the longest set of the concert but it was very pleasing to listen to.
The song was beautifully sung and full of high pitches. The pianist stopped playing the piano for a few seconds, for those few seconds the singer’s voices stood out loudly and flowed through the room.
The Chamber Chorale also performed A Hymn to the Virgin and A Spotless Rose. Singer, Joseph Arquett lend his voice to the solo in A Spotless Rose.
Once the Chorale was done with their set they joined forces with the Choir and both sang two songs. The first song they sang together was Choral Fantasy by Beethoven.
The song was very pleasing to hear and was sung flawlessly.
Tomorrow, they will perform Choral Fantasy alongside the ELAC Orchestra.
The Choir and the Chorale brought the concert to an end by performing Christmas Time is Here which was written in a four part arrangement.
Audiences might recognize the tune from A Charlie Brown Christmas. This song was fun to listen to; it was imaginative and filled the room with the Christmas spirit and anticipationfor the holiday.