The Jackson State University Concert Chorale in Cade Chapel
Baptist Church, April 23, 2006
The program opened with Palestrina's Adoramus Te, with the
sensitivity and blend only possible with a capella singing
(indeed most of the program was unaccompanied). Sicut locutus
est, from J.S. Bach's Magnificat was next, followed by
Giovanni Gabrieli's Cantate Domino. Then Alfred Reed's
Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God was sung, opening with
what has become a trademark of Director Cortez Castilla's choirs,
ppp passages that truly were pianissimo. The dynamic
range in this piece extended to ff, but in this age of
overuse of electronic amplification it was refreshing to hear music
this soft. By the way, it is much easier to sing very loud than very
soft, so this represented considerable rehearsing. Betty Jackson
King's Psalm 57, a favorite of this reviewer, ended the first
part of the program. After the intermission two a capella
pieces arranged by the late and much mourned Moses Hogan followed:
We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace, probably the high
point of the whole program, and the well-known Elijah Rock.
Students also participated as individuals; during the intermission
Tianna Berry, pianist, played Christian Sinding's Rustle of
Spring; Harvey Williams, Jr., baritone, sang Give Me Jesus,
and Rodney Vaughn, tenor, sang Somebody's Knocking At Your Door,
which, by the way, had some pianissimo passages. Two gospel
selections, with a student director, closed the program.
I continue to be impressed with the musicianship of this group,
which I have been following for a number of years.
-Glenn A. Gentry