Cantilena, Camerata, Bel Canto, and Guys’ Gig Perform Music from Europe

by Cheryl Liu, Reporter|November 18, 2013

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Cheryl Liu

The singers of Bel Canto strike poses as they sing “Kalinka”, a traditional Russian Folk song and “Nutcracker Jingles” by James Pierpont/Peter Tchaikovsky. The other two song they performed were “A ya po lugu”, a traditional Russian folk song, and “Sto mi e milo”, a traditional Macedonian folk song.

Taking the audience to the other side of the world, choral groups Cantilena, Camerata, Bel Canto, and Guys’ Gig performed music of Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern and Central Europe last night in the Nichols Auditorium.

Camerata opened the show with the songs “Bogoróditse Djévo” by Arvo Pärt and “The Sound of the Pipe and Drum” by Pierre Certon. It was followed by Bel Canto, directed by Jennah Somers.

Bel Canto’s performance was an immersive experience for the audience, as for part of its performance the group sang not on the stage but in the audience. The singers also incorporated dance moves and gestures into their performance. They were accompanied by junior Serena Wang on the piano.

Junior Simran Singh was pleasantly surprised by Bel Canto’s pieces and thought that “such high energy songs were a great addition to the concert.”

After Bel Canto came Guys’ Gig, who made the audience laugh when they sang “Tchaikovsky and Other Russians” in under 90 seconds among other amusing pieces. Guys’ Gig also continued its tradition of singing “Good Ol’ A Cappella” by Carter and Nevada and using music puns.

Cantilena concluded the evening with three Russian pieces and a Hungarian song. They sang the first song, “Let My Prayer Arise” by Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, with Camerata. Freshman Vedaad Shakib accompanied them on the piano. Camerata finished its performance with “Song of Good Cheer” by Mykola Leontovych, “Saucers” by Igor Stravinsky, and “Dancing Song” by Zoltán Kodály.

As the only senior in Guys’ Gig this year, Stephan Pellissier felt “a little lonely being the only senior.” However, he felt that although a lot of work went into the making the concert what it was, it was very successful.

“We’ve been preparing pieces for this concert since the school year started,” Simran said. “For many members of both groups, the Russian was especially hard to deal with, and singing in a difficult language was just one more thing we had to master in addition to learning how to work within the new year’s group.”

“I felt the concert went fabulously,” said sophomore Janet Lee, a member of Camerata. “I thought all the other groups were amazing! I was so impressed and generally overjoyed with the entire concert.”

The groups will also perform at the annual Holiday Show next month, Dec. 13.