Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
The University Chorale in performance at the chorale's season at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, UWI, Mona, last Thursday. - NATHANIEL STEWART/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
The jam session provided the afternoon's climax. Pulling from a mixture of soul and reggae, the jam breezed through hits such as Ordinary People, Welcome to Jamrock, Still in Love, and Longing For, easily driving the audience, who lustily sang along, into a frenzy. The University Chorale, directed by Noel Dexter, is the youngest of the societies that operate out of the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the UWI.
LAST THURSDAY, the University Chorale attempted the whet the appetites of students at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, with the staging of its 2006 lunch-hour concert, in anticipation of its upcoming concert season. Unfortunately, it was a mixed menu, with some pieces going down sumptuously well, while others were quite unpalatable.
The University Chorale, directed by Noel Dexter, is the youngest of the societies that operate out of the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the UWI. Thursday's staging was the chorale's seventh annual lunch-hour concert, and a precursor to their second concert season. It may have been their youth which weakened the performances at the lunch-hour concert, but alas, the chorale's overall performance did not seem to bear the stamp of quality which usually accompanies its director's work.
MAIN HIGHLIGHT
The main highlight of the afternoon, however, came through the performance of pianist Leighton Rodney who delivered a solo and was also band leader to an intense jam session toward the end of the concert. Rodney's solo was a classical instrumentation of the reggae classic Redemption Song. The solo demonstrated a bold arrangement incorporating several runs which spoke of imaginative flair.
The jam session provided the afternoon's climax. Pulling from a mixture of soul and reggae, the jam breezed through hits such as Ordinary People, Welcome to Jamrock, Still in Love, and Longing For, easily driving the audience, who lustily sang along, into a frenzy.
Generally, the chorale performances were stronger than solos, and indicated that it may indeed be experience which the members are struggling with. The chorale delivered mainly gospel pieces including Thanks Be to God, Hush, and The Presence of the Lord' is Here. They veered from this with the closing piece, a Dennis Brown medley.
STRONG SOLOS
There were also some strong solos coming from D.K. who delivered a witty dub poem, Marsha Antoine with Fever and Gilda Williams with My Redeemer Lives. As such, the chorale seems to be differentiating itself from the University Singers by delving deeper into solo and duet renditions of pop music. Unfortunately, Thursday's performance suggested that they have not yet learnt to couple voices with songs that suit them.
The result was that performances like Kaheila Levy's rendition of Killing Me Softly were produced. The R&B classic is a favourite with many singers, but it can also prove their downfall as its seeming simplicity requires a very rich, melodious voice. Levy's delivery was far too flat, and she also did not seem to recognise that the song is quite angst ridden and none of that came through.
Shereen-Ann Porman also fell short to deceptively simple music through Alicia Key's A Woman's Worth. Though her initial wiggle suggested that she was about to deliver a fiery performance, her follow through was unable to maintain the blaze.
But the bottom of the rung fell to Leon Reynolds and Venecia Pearce's delivery of The Prayer. The two had selected a song that was eons away from the current strength of their voices and had done nothing to adapt it to their own skill level.
The chorale's concert season is scheduled to take place April 7-9, at 7:00 p.m. nightly with the exception of Sunday, April 9 when show time is 5:00 p.m. They therefore have another two weeks to iron out those unseemly wrinkles which come through in their teaser.
