On December 12 and 13, Campolindo’s Treble and Bass Chorale, Treble Ensemble, Bel Canto, Chamber Singers, and Concert Choir performed two concerts filled with holiday cheer and beautiful harmonies.
The first night of the concert was the underclassmen choirs, along with a teaser for the following night by the Bel Canto and Chamber choirs. Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church was filled with winter harmonies, sing alongs, and even some fun holiday hats.
The night began with an exuberant “San’bonani/Namhla Kudibene”, a South African greeting song that gradually escalates to a war song, arranged by Michael Barrett. Performed by the Campolindo Choir Tenors and Basses, the soloists were composed of all grade levels, including freshmen Camden Smith and Claes Bell. The song finished with fast paced clapping and a walk towards the audience.
Following the Treble Chorale, Freshmen girls performed three songs, beginning with “Shine on Me”, arranged by Rollo Dilworth. After this song, the chorale sang an english folk song, “The Lass from the Low Countree” arranged by Donald Moore. For the final song of their set they sang “Singabahambayo”, a freedom song arranged by Victor Johnson.
The Bass Chorale returned for their set, three powerful songs, before all the chorales sang together. They began with “Cantate Hodie!”, a latin song translating to “Sing Today!”. Following that, they sang “My Heart’s in the Highlands”, and “The Crawdad Song”. The two chorales then sang two combined songs; “Dodi Li”, an Israeli song, and “Carol of the Bells”.
An audience sing-along of “Deck the Halls” was followed by a teaser of the following night’s Wassail concert. Beginning with Bel Canto’s “Ding-a, Ding-a, Ding”, the singers delighted the audience with harmonies and precision. The Chamber Singers followed, with a festive rendition of “Jingle Bells”. The two choirs then sang together, yet another teaser to the following night’s concert, “Indodana”.
The Treble Ensemble followed, singing “Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle”, a french carol. The ensemble then sang “There Is No Rose”, with senior Christopher Vojta playing Oboe, and finally “Sleigh Ride.” Sophomore Erin Garrity, a member of the Treble Ensemble said that her favorite song she sang was “There Is No Rose”. She also commented that the group prepared for “four months”.
As a conclusion to the night, all three underclassmen choirs sang “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
On the second night of the concert, the Church was overfilled with people coming to watch the choir’s amazing performance. The concert started off strong yet again with the South African greeting/war song performed by the Concert Choir Tenors and Basses, with soloists junior Benoit Pelchat and junior Luke Spivey.
After the Tenors and Basses performed, the Concert Choir Sopranos and Altos sang “Ubi Caritas”. This performance was followed by the Chamber Singers singing “Regina Coeli”, “Chiribim Chiribom”, “Ave Maria”, and the classic “Jingle Bells”.
Afterwards, the audience was allowed to join the choirs in singing “Deck the Halls”, with lyrics provided on the programme. Next came the Bel Canto choir singing “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day”, with soloist senior Jules Crossland, “Ding-a, Ding-a, Ding”, “Dormi, Dormi O Bel Bambin” with soloists senior Sidney Ross and senior Valerie Yarve, and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”.
Next, the Chamber Singers and Bel Canto combined to perform “Indodana”, another South African song by Michael Barrett and Ralf Schmitt. The audience joined the choir yet again with a sing-along of “Up on the Housetop”. After this, the Concert Choir performed Eitz Chayim Hi, “O Magnum Mysterium”, and “Sussex Carol”. These songs were joined by the band, providing a lovely melody along with the amazing voices from the choirs. “Doing collaborations either bringing multiple choirs together or adding instrumentalists to our pieces” was a highlight of the evening for choir teacher Mark Roberts.
Finally, the choirs ended the night with a performance of “Silent Night”, which has customarily been performed at the end of the Winter Concert in previous years. “I learned this Silent Night arrangement when I was a student at Campolindo from my director. I brought it back when I started teaching here 13 years ago. Alumni were invited to join the performance,” said Roberts. The choirs both sang the song and sang it again in American Sign Language.
Roberts has yet again provided the Campolindo community with another amazing concert to enjoy. The choralists showed hard work and dedication through their performances. “We did our rehearsals Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A lot of us also practiced at home and on the weekends leading up to the concert so that we’d be well prepared,” said junior Adriana Carranza. Campo students appreciate the effort that Mr. Roberts and the students in choir put into the concert in order to make it memorable.
