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Wishing you Happy Holidays through MUSIC!
Quick fun fact from WQXR: Did you know that “carols” were not originally songs that people sung going from door to door on Christmas? In the 12th century, carols weren’t even choral songs at all, but dances! What one can learn when being softly lulled to sleep by classical radio!
What I’m really here for today is not to talk about the history of the carol, but to talk about the Holiday Gala at the Aaron Copland School of Music presented by the CSCDC (Classical Singers Career Development Club) and NAfME (National Association for Musical Education). The cabaret style performance included many musical numbers including vocal pieces, instrumental, and even a cappella groups! Raffles were available to raise money for victims of Super Storm Sandy – gift cards to music stores, tickets to comedy shows, and even an iPad!
I would like to mention just three pieces that stood out to me most.
- Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor, arranged by Andrea S. Klouse
Sung by the male a cappella group, The Rough Dozen, this piece was dedicated to the children killed in today’s schoolshooting in Newton, Connecticut. It’s pretty amazing, having been away from my computer for most of today, that I found out about this horrible tragedy so much later than everyone else – news really does travel fast these days! I found the piece extremely moving, and I thought it was really a perfect way to commemorate those lost lives. I think the music speaks for itself, so I would really urge you to listen to the video I’ve provided (though the example I found isn’t a cappella). I think that the effect of having no instruments cover the voices was beautiful and really created a chilling and somber atmosphere in the room.
- Send me to Glory in a Glad Bag by Don & Mim Carlson/Steve Mason, arranged by Cliff Derix
Following Prayer of the Children, The Rough Dozen, featuring Carlos Ponce, performed this humorous little piece. This and
their earlier “Christmas Chopsticks” were traditional sounding blue grass, barber shop songs for a cappella groups. It reminded me of when I was in Select Singers in high school – our “humorous” piece was Monty Python’s I’m A LumberJack, the difference being that The Rough Dozen actually performed their song a lot better (that’s what you get from a music school bunch in college!). Not only was it a great number, it really cleared the air after such a serious and sentimental song like Prayer. - Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries by Tchaikovsky
The last piece I would like to briefly mention is a “voice only” version of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. As you might well know
by now, I have a thing for these a cappella groups! Never before had I really gone to see an a cappella concert until I came to Queens College and frequented the Aaron Copland School of Music’s offerings (this week alone I think I’ve attended three programs one of which I had the wonderful opportunity to perform in). I found this piece, in particular, interesting, because it was able to convey all the whimsical qualities of Tchaikovsky’s composition without using any instruments! It was just precious!
Overall, I’d like to just thank CSCDC and NAfME for putting on a lovely Holiday Gala. I got to eat yummy cookies and enjoy festive music – oh well, I didn’t get any Chanukah songs, but most Christmas music is written by Jews anyway, right? Though I started the night off feeling under the weather and had to skip dinner, every cloud has a silver lining – and tonight that came in the form of a silver garland trimmed microphone and lovely musicians!
CSCDC & NAfME : A Holiday Gala
Aaron Copland School of Music: Room 270
December 14, 2012 at 6:30 PM
Marina B. Nebro