THE UNIVERSITY Singers has laid down a magical musical carpet for its 2004 concert season. The season was brought to a fabulous start with a Mary Seacole Benefit performance last Thursday night.
The season takes place at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, St. Andrew. With music from sources as varied as Samuel Felstead and Sizzla, the University Singers presented a night of great music and imaginative arrangements.
The University Singers has a wealth of vocal and musical talent, and this year's concert season has once again displayed it in full bloom. Though the number of singers were fewer than in recent years, the performance was no less inspiring. The show opened with 'High Church' selections. Thursday's performance featured Carol Dexter and Rory Frankson as the first soloists for the night in the performance of Samuel Felstead's Tune Your Harps.
This first segment ended with Hosanna in Excelsis, a composition and delivery which the word magnificent struggled to describe. Franklin Halliburton took over the role of director for the song, from the choir's director, Noel Dexter. Halliburton displayed distinctly dramatic performance, in contrast to Dexter's quietly masterful style. Halliburton would also exercise the strength of his vocals with his solo in Done Made My Vow, arranged by R. Colbert.
The segment dubbed 'Spirit Filled', which focuses on spirituals, also featured a impressive solo by Carol Dexter and duet by Carolyn Reid and Ellan Edwards. Reid and Edwards delivered a gripping rendition of Ride The Chariot, arranged by Halliburton. Other impressive soloists for the night included Ana Strachan and Toni Ann Baker.
The University Singers has been distinguishing itself as a choir with the arrangements of popular songs, extracting the full musical potential from the originals. The 2004 concert season continues this trend. This time around the group tackles Sizzla's Simplicity (arranged by Djenne Greaves) Red Rat's Nuh Live Nuh Weh and Bob Marley's Rastaman Chant, both arranged by Ewan Simpson.
Between them, Simpson and Greaves bring an imaginative interpretation to the popular songs, exploring the depth of meaning within them, rather than merely presenting a well-sung parody. The more entertaining aspects of re-arranging the popular songs was explored in Come On Enjoy Yourself, also arranged by Greaves. Simpson's prowess as an arranger was also explored in the folk segments with Wheel Oh Matilda and Grampa's Advice.
The folk segment of the night was largely arranged by Noel Dexter, however, and included three songs written by Barbara Gloudon and Dexter. This segment of the show brought out much humour, presenting a much lighter side to the first half of the show.
