As a warm welcome back to campus after a restful Thanksgiving Break for students and faculty, the Hamilton College and Community Masterworks Chorale, joined by Symphor!a, performed at Wellin Hall on Tues., Nov. 28, in their annual Winter Concert. This year’s concert is “A Psalm is a Psalm is a Psalm,” directed by G. Roberts Kolb, the Marjorie and Robert W. McEwen Professor of Music and Director Emeritus of Choral Music at Hamilton. Fittingly, a wide selection of biblical psalms were performed by the Masterworks Chorale, which draws its members from all corners of the Hamilton community and includes students, professors, and everyone in between who calls Hamilton home. Symphor!a, a symphony based in Syracuse, joined the all-inclusive chorus for this remarkable event, which resulted in a rich, multifaceted sound that was pure music to the ears.
The two groups were conducted by Professor Kolb; with his feverous conducting of the attentive musicians before him, the audience was in for a memorable musical experience.
The pairing of Symphor!a and Masterworks proved to be exceptional, as the symphonic, flavorful melodies of the former complemented the rich, dynamic vocals of the latter, and the end result was a sound that blended beautifully into one. The array of instruments featured in this concert was just as diverse as the group of musicians playing them onstage, which resulted in a unique, well-rounded sound that encapsulated Wellin Hall.
The concert also featured soloists from Symphor!a at several points, which added yet another dimension to the already dynamic blend of harmonies on display. The standout vocals of the soloists pierced through the eclectic veil of sound created by the multitude of instruments, contrasting well with the sounds of the symphony in the background. There was even one moment near the end of the concert where the two soloists who previously had their individual opportunities to shine treated the audience once again with a duet, which was an entertaining addition to the show that highlighted the vocal prowess of the two talents, whose sound complemented each other in an almost flawless fashion.
The pace of the music in the program fluctuated, with rises and falls that mimicked a sound wave of sorts, yet another highlight of the onstage talent that kept the audience on their toes, always ready for the next surprise the performers had in store. Not to mention, the music seemed to flow in a nonstop arrangement, one piece building off of the other in a seamless, continuous fashion, which was fascinating to witness. Adding to this already multifarious set, there were moments where select musical instruments were highlighted throughout the performance which allowed each one-of-a-kind sound to display its own individual flavor among the many that blended together in the overall homogenous mix.
The entire concert proved to be a showcase of the musical talent present in all facets of the Hamilton community, demonstrating that anyone with a voice is capable of taking part in such a celebration of the legacied tradition of music here on the Hill. The next performance that we can all look forward to from the Masterworks Chorale and Symphor!a is in April, in which the dynamic duo will present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s
Requiem
and Ludwig van Beethoven’s
Fantasia in C Minor, op. 80 (Choral Fantasy).
This choir is open in the spring semester to anyone and everyone willing to lend their vocal talents to a passionate collective of singers. If this stunning winter concert is any indication of what we can expect from next semester’s spectacle, we can be confident that another must-see musical extravaganza is on the horizon.
