The Jackson State University Concert Chorale & Singers, December 7, 2008
The Peaceable Kingdom (Randall Thompson) made up the first
part of the program. It is major unaccompanied choral work,
and requires a large choir (the last chorus, Ye Shall
Have a Song is for two choirs). It is fairly well-known,
but not done often, partly because of the number of singers
needed and partly because it is not easy. The JSU choir,
however, was clearly up to the job, and gave a riveting
performance. They had sung it before when the AGO Choral-Organ
Festival was at Fondren Presbyterian Church, but because that
was in 1997, none of the individual singers would have been
familiar with it - only the director, Cortez Castilla - whom
we thank for bringing it to the community again.
The choir also sang a Bach fugue (D major) arranged for
voices by Ward Swingle, founder of the Swingle Singers, whose
specialty was singing works not originally meant to be sung!
James Erb's arrangement of the familiar Shenandoah followed,
and then Robert Morris' arrangement of Lucie Campbell's
Something Within. Robert Morris is a former director
of the JSU choir, but has been at Macalester College (in
Minnesota) for more than a decade. Next was a spiritual,
Hail Mary (William Dawson), and the formal program
ended with a modern gospel piece, Revelation 19 (Jeffrey
La Valley). The traditional carol sing closed the program.
In all these the choir sang expressively, reflecting not
only their mastery of the notes, but of the music at a
higher level.
I thank Director Cortez Castilla and the choir for the gift of
this music. The JSU choir, with 60 voices fairly evenly
distributed among the four parts, has an impressive sound
and repertoire, and it is well worth making the effort to
hear them.
- Glenn A. Gentry