Masterworks Concerts Stuns Audience
Despite the steady snowfall and slick roads, last Wednesday night’s Masterworks concert went on as planned. After the Tuesday night concert was received with glowing reviews and a standing ovation, the chorus and orchestra students were, for the most part, actually excited as they entered the school for the final concert.
Dressed all in concert black (thankfully, no one had to go into the costume closet to dig for appropriate black attire as Mrs. Chambers threatened we would, were people not to adhere to the dress code), the the chorus stood in the stairwell while the Footnotes performed the “Cantique de Jean Racine.” Beautifully accompanied by the harpist, the Footnotes sounded stunning and deceptively French. After the middle school and high school orchestras performed together, the full chorus filed onto the risers, scores under left arms, to perform Dan Forrest’s “Requiem for the Living.”
As soon as the strings played their first note, the audience was transported into an ethereal, musical masterpiece. The months of work on the parts of Mrs. Chambers and Ms. Rommer were evident in the preparedness of and emotion from the students. Even skeptical audience members were extremely impressed and moved by the performance. My own brother, who, as are most eleven year olds, was slightly put out at the idea of a forty minute Latin song, enjoyed his night spent watching the Requiem. According to Kai Renshaw, the Requiem was “very well done,” a statement more than echoed by many members of the audience who, moved to tears by the beauty of the work, congratulated the performers after the concert.
While all of the Hanover High concerts I have experienced have been enjoyable and lovely, this concert was a transcendent thing of which to be a part. For anyone who wishes to watch a recording of the Requiem, the link for Tuesday night’s performance is http://thecube.com/e/784813, and the link for Wednesday’s is https://thecube.com/event/784862. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the music department, and I truly hope that you enjoyed watching the Requiem as much as those performing enjoyed being a part of it.
