December 3, 2009
It’s a grand night for singing at CarolFest Dec. 8
The holidays are a time when people want to come together and celebrate.
The School of Music’s upcoming CarolFest, scheduled for Dec. 8, not only provides an opportunity for six University choirs to celebrate together through song, but also invites the campus community to join in.
“Carols are such a part of our cultural fabric,” said Chamber Singers Conductor Geoffrey Boers. “Their presence in our ears at this time of year marks the passage of the seasons — the march toward the solstice and a time of growing light as the darkness around us increases.
“We have so few shared songs among us today. Carols are a chance to hear and join in familiar and heart warming music as well as hear other beautiful sounds of the season.”
The songs chosen for the concert range from traditional holiday carols (Noel, Deck the Halls, Sleigh Ride) to songs of a more pop nature (The Beach Boys’ Little Saint Nick, Santa Baby, All I Want for Christmas is You) and even include carols from different cultures.
Ziemas svetki sabraukusi, for example, is a Latvian carol that will be performed by the UW Women’s Choir. Jean-Marie Kent, one of the Women’s Choir conductors, said that it is her favorite piece on the program.
“Iveta [Grinberga], our UW professor of the language, came and helped us with the pronunciation,” said Kent. “It’s a song about winter solstice and the hope for light. Altos begin with a brooding, low repetition of the word “kaladu” [which means swinging sun in the winter solstice]. Sopranos join with a simple folk tune that is light and buoyant. The juxtaposition of the two is like the separation of light and dark that divides the day from the night.”
This is the sixth Carolfest, so the art of coordinating all of the groups has been perfected over the years. The Chamber Singers, University Chorale, University Singers, Women’s Choir, Gospel Choir and the UW Men’s Glee Club will all perform.
Boers said, “We have to be very careful about the timing! Everyone is so enthusiastic — they want to perform all of their music. We made the mistake of allowing everyone to perform everything they wanted to once and the concert was two and a half hours long. So we allow our beginning and campus-wide groups to perform longer than our advanced choirs who have their own concerts.”
Bringing so many people together is a joy, but it is not without challenges and much strategy, pointed out Boers.
“We also have to create an overall program, putting the choirs in a good order — that is, beginning and ending with fun things, and saving serious music for places where the audience will enjoy it the most. Then there is the grand finale, of course, with 500 or so singers, so getting them organized on stage and in the house and all singing together is a real challenge!”
Though the finale can be problematic to organize it seems to be worth it since it ranks as many people’s favorite part of the evening.
“The highlight was the grand finale,” said UW News and Information’s Sandra Hines, who attended last year’s CarolFest. “It was just spectacular—the sound. All of the choirs came back out onto the stage to sing together. It was pretty impressive.”
Boers also said the finale is his favorite part.
“It is so rare to hear that many people singing together. It’s very powerful, even if we might be singing the Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Both Kent and Hines mentioned that it’s fun to see and hear friends performing.
When the University Singers performed, “I was watching and recognized people I work with,” Hines said. “That was fun as a staff member to see.”
University Singers is the largest UW choir and is open to all students, staff and faculty. It attracts about 150 members from the campus community every quarter and does not require an audition to join.
CarolFest is the perfect opportunity for anyone interested in joining a choir to check out what UW has to offer.
“We invented CarolFest a number of years ago to give all of the choirs on campus a chance to perform together,” said Boers, “and as a way to highlight the groups that attract our non-music majors as well as the choirs that serve as an introduction to singing for so many students across campus.
“This way they have the satisfaction of performing with a choir as well as hearing other choirs that are more advanced — serving as an inspiration to them to keep singing, growing, developing and seeing that there is a future of possibilities in singing both here at UW and as they go forward in life.”
Kent said, “If you are at all interested in singing in a choir at UW, then CarolFest is a great way to choose which choir you would like to be a part of. Our choirs aren’t just for students; faculty and staff are also invited to join.”
The song-filled evening is at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 in Meany Hall. Tickets are $10 and available at 206-543-4880, online at www.music.washington.edu or at the door.
Hines highly recommends the event. “I took my mom last year and we are definitely going again this year. I actively looked for it and put it on my calendar. If that’s not an endorsement, then I don’t know what is.”
