By Josey Ikker ('24)
On Friday Feb. 9, the Houghton Chamber Choir will present their concert titled “Christ With Me” at 6:30 p.m. for Greatbatch School of Music’s upcoming Preview Day.
Every semester, Houghton hosts a School of Music Preview Day for prospective students who are looking to either major, minor or have a concentration in music. This preview day consists of a tour around the Center for the Arts, sitting in on a classroom setting, such as Music Theory, observations of Houghton Choir, interacting with current students and faculty, a student recital and a featured ensemble performance.
The Chamber Choir is a fourteen-member select ensemble. In order to audition, students must be at least a sophomore who is also in the Houghton Choir.
The Chamber Choir was started in Dec. 2022 by Dr. Kevin Dibble, conductor of the Chamber Choir, Men’s Choir and Women’s Choir, and the Associate Director of Choral Activities.
The Chamber Choir as Dr. Dibble described, “is a unique organization. It’s small, it can fit in different spaces. It can take advantage of different things.”
Recently, the ensemble participated in a Choir retreat before the first day of classes in which they learned a list of repertoire in less than a week and had the opportunity to perform for a Senior’s Luncheon at Family Life Ministries on Jan. 11.
The ensemble’s repertoire consists of Renaissance music and traditional hymns, and the works featured for the upcoming Preview Day performance are by composers such as Gjelio, Flummerfelt, Paulus, Fleming and Stroope.
Dr. Dibble explained the theme of the concert as “a representation of different stages in life in which these songs are used to inspire and remind us that Christ is with us.”
One of Dr. Dibble’s favorite pieces in the concert is “The Deer’s Cry” by Arvo Pärt because, “that’s where the title of the concert [Christ with Me] comes from. Musically, seems to not do a lot but textually is very powerful.” He also shared that, “the simplicity of the music drives the listener and the singer to the significance of the text.”
Another factor for this concert is the location which will not be in the Recital Hall but in the atrium.
“Visually the atrium presents a different aesthetic than a typical concert hall,” Dr. Dibble stated, “and this is the Chamber Choir’s first stand-alone concert…let’s do a little something out of the ordinary.”
Dr. Dibble has expressed his enjoyment of working with the Chamber Choir, because they are a group of high-level, talented singers who “move quickly and make really great music.”
Rachael McVeigh (‘23), a first-year graduate student, will be featured as another conductor for the concert. She will be conducting “O Radiant Dawn” by James MacMillan and “Estoy Les Digo” by Kinley Lange.
“I like doing these two pieces together because they’re so different that I can work on two different skillsets,” McVeigh explained. “Estoy les Digo has a lot of slow and legato versus O Radiant Dawn which has a lot of sharp dynamic contrasts with similar interesting chord progressions.”
McVeigh has been singing with many of the Chamber Choir members for the past four years.
“It’s fun to get to conduct with my friends,” McVeigh said, “and have that support as I step into this new role.”
All are welcome to attend and listen to the Chamber Choir in “Christ With Me” in the Center for the Arts Atrium. ★