On April 17, renowned composer Sydney Guillaume visited Campolindo from his home in Seattle for a clinic with Concert Choir and Bel Canto in preparation for their Spring Concert. Guillaume’s pieces are a feature of both classes: Concert Choir has been developing his piece entitled “Tchaka,” and Bel Canto will perform “Koudjay” as part of their upcoming concert repertoire.
Sung in Haitian Creole, the text of both pieces sets a celebratory, festive atmosphere, with the music containing Latin-influenced rhythms and sound effects using various phonetics.
“I didn’t go into the clinic with any expectation other than loving his work, but it was a super productive and insightful day,” says choral teacher Daniel Jones. “[Guillaume] is extremely personable and humble, and there were times when I forgot that he is a world renowned composer because he’s so interested in the people around him and willing to hear people’s opinions. I think students really responded to his inviting personality.”
Working with the composer of these pieces is an enlightening learning experience for students who spent the period walking through the music and adjusting each aspect to near perfection, ultimately strengthening the arrangement to completion.
“He worked on detail oriented things for the most part,” Jones said. “There were some overarching concepts that he covered but it was all of the little things that made the piece come to life. His fresh perspective gave new energy to the performance as a choir.”
Running the entirety of “Tchaka”, Concert Choir swayed with the traditional Creole rhythms and were encouraged to let loose, eliciting a syncopated and powerful sound yet to be unlocked in past rehearsals: “There’s no better source for a piece of music than the composer who wrote it,” said Jones.
Guillaume opened the discussion to answer questions from students, talking about his life and what led him to become a composer. He grew up in Haiti, exposed to the indigenous musical tradition compas and leaving to start a new life in America at age 11. Guillaume spoke about the inception of “Tchaka”, his first formal choral piece ever written for commission and meant to be performed by a prominent choir.
Guillaume addressed Haiti’s reputation as a place of oppression and struggle, while the landscape’s beauty and traditional music is often overlooked: “My home is so much more than that, and my music is meant to reflect its rich culture and celebratory nature,” said Guillaume.
In Bel Canto, students rehearsed “Koudjay”, featuring Haitian rhythms and challenging harmonies. The Soprano Alto (S.A.) arrangement uses a text about harmonizing life’s activities and balancing one’s work ethic. Guillaume revealed that his father provided the lyrics for the piece to be commissioned by a Haitian choir, later to be publicly released for the use of hundreds of choirs globally.
“Creole is really hard so we needed assistance on pronunciation,” said Crossland. “He also helped us better understand the feeling of the piece as reminiscent of leisure, so he corrected a lot of our rhythms to fit the theme.”
Jones revealed that Guillaume “worked additionally with Treble Chorale in between the two official clinics though they aren’t performing any of his pieces. He came in and listened to their music and gave those students insight about how to improve their work.”
Three of Campo’s choirs were fortunate enough to receive guidance from the composer himself of the songs they’ve been practicing, leaving students with valuable insights and a new excitement to perform.
