THE JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY CONCERT CHORALE, CORTEZ CASTILLA, DIRECTOR,
AND MICKEY THOMAS TERRY, ORGANIST, AT CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH, JUNE 12, 2001

   The JSU Chorale opened the program with one of my favorite a capella
choral works - the beautiful Psalm 57 by Betty Jackson King. It was
sung exquisitely. Next were two pieces with organ accompaniment -
the Kyrie from Bruckner's Mass in e Minor and Egil Hovlund's Saul.
The opening bars of the Kyrie are marked pppp, and the JSU Choir sang it
just that way. To sing pp is difficult enough, but to sing pppp is rarely
achieved. In fact the last time I heard this dynamic level from a choir was
several years ago, from the JSU Choir's performance of the same piece!
In today's world one can go to many choral concerts and never hear a
dynamic level less than mezzo-forte. Hovlund's Saul was given a spirited
performance, again with wide dynamic levels. Three a capella spirituals
followed - "Hail, Mary", arranged by William Dawson, and "Elijah Rock" and
"Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel", both arranged by Moses Hogan. The choral
portion of the program closed with a rousing rendition of Mark Hayes'
"All Creatures of Our God and King" (Tune: LASST UNS ERFREUEN), with
organ. At various points in the accompanied works there were extended
a capella passages, but each time the accompaniment returned the choir
was on pitch. My heartfelt thanks go to Director Cortez Castilla, the
JSU Chorale and organist Mickey Thomas Terry for a beautiful experience.

   Mickey Thomas Terry then began the second part of this 15th Annual
Choral-Organ Festival of the Jackson Chapter, with an energetic performance
of the Toccata from David Hurd's "Te Deum Laudamus". This was followed by
Mark Fax's Prelude on St. Martin's, with the cantus firmus on a reed stop.
Next was the Marche Pontifical from Widor's Symphonie I (Op. 14), a big
piece played easily and smoothly in a way that belied its underlying
trickiness. Then came Thomas Kerr's Miniature on a Pedal Point from his
Suite Sebastienne - a meditative and somewhat dissonant piece that provided
an effective contrast to the Widor. The program was closed with a real
show-stopper - Terry's performance of the Allegro Deciso from Marcel
Dupre's Evocation-Poeme Symphonique was electrifying. His fingers moved
over the manuals in a blur. The analogy of keyboard playing to cat-like
motion is not new - one recalls the piece "Kitten On The Keys", and
the German/English organ-builder John Snetzler's complaint about Handel:
"He do run over de keys like one cat and do not give my pipes time to
shpeak!" Terry's fingers and feet moved like a charging tiger - an elegant
combination of grace and fury!

                                                       - Glenn A. Gentry

The JSU Chorale was sponsored by John D. Bower, M.D., and Mickey Thomas
Terry by WLBT-TV3.




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