The Goshen College choirs gathered in Sauder Concert Hall to put on the Winter Choral Concert last Saturday.
The evening began with selections from the low voice choir, Vox Profundi, under the direction of Scott Hochstetler. They began with “Pacem,” which is Latin for peace, moved into an a cappella version of “Fix You” by Coldplay, and ended with a comical piece called “Lambscapes” which includes renditions of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” with influences from Gregorian Chant, Handel, Schubert and Verdi.Jocsan Barahona Rosales, a junior musical theater major and soloist in “Lambscapes” and “Fix You” talked about how both of the pieces were different from what he was used to. “We don’t always get to be so silly in choir,” Barahona Rosales said about “Lambscapes.”
“In my time here we’ve never done a stereotypical a capella song,” he said about “Fix You.” “At first we were hesitant to do it … As the different parts started coming together … it was more exciting to do.”
Voices of the Earth followed Vox. Due to Roz Woll being ill, Marcia Yost, director of arts engagement and outreach, directed the choir for two of their selections. For the final selection, senior music education major Hannah Lehman directed “Turning.”
“It was fun to interact with [the choir] from a different perspective than what I was used to,” Lehman said. “It was both rewarding to conduct my peers, but it was a really good experience for me.”
To round out the concert, Chamber Choir performed “Serenade to Music” which included 13 solos, “A Hive of Frightened Bees” to remember victims of school shootings in the United States, and “Hope Lingers On” to look onward with hope.
The words to the songs took on a new meaning to the music students and faculty as they worked through processing the departure of Richard Brunson.
“Although the music department went through a lot in the past week, it meant a lot to me that we all showed up for each other and still made meaningful music,” Lehman said.
