2007 Summer Choral Concert

Today was the end-of-the-semester choir concert for my students. We performed:

• Blue Skies - by Irving Berlin
• Shake the Papaya Down - Calypso Song arranged by Ruth Dwyer and Judith Waller
• Morning by the Sea - by Sonja Poorman
• Canoe Round - Traditional Round
• Who Can Sail? - Finnish Folk Song arranged by Carl-Bertil Agnestig
• Four Arms, Two Necks, One Wreathing - Madrigal by Thomas Weelkes (1575-1623)
• Sopin Wai Sed - Ngatik Folk Song
• Kyrie Eleison from "Mass for Three Voices" - by William Byrd (1539-1623)
• Kyrie Eleison - Surinam Church Song
• Go Down, Moses - African-American Spiritual
• Siyahamba - African Hymn
• Gaudeamus Hodie - by Natalie Sleeth

The concert was held in the lobby of the State Administration Building (hot, hot, hot!) and we had a pretty good-sized crowd. In my opinion, the highlights of the program were Blue Skies and William Byrd's Kyrie Eleison.

It was so rewarding to work with these sudents. With few exceptions, they were responsive to the directions I gave them in terms of dynamics and articulation and even memorized the entire concert. They were committed to and excited about the project; they even practiced by themselves on the day I was sick a few weeks ago.

Kosrae is a musician's dream come true.