Elizabeth Pham

Mr. Mullinax
Vocal Music III
5 January 2017

Durham School of the Arts Fall Concert 2016

The Durham School of the Arts chamber choir fall concert took place on
Thursday, October 13th at 7:00pm at the Durham School of the Arts Weaver
Auditorium. The chamber choir consisted of about 20-30 high school
students. I appreciated the diversity of the literature that they performed.
Although some younger choirs performed as well, the chamber choir was the
most distinct and mature. The blend of this choir was so smooth and even,
the ratio of men voice parts and women voice parts created a beautiful
balance---no one voice part overpowered the other. Everyone looked uniform
with their tuxedos and choir dresses. All the singers also had good concert
etiquette and remained still before, during, and after the song. One thing
that I do have to criticize is that the singers were not being very musical,
which could be the fault of the conductor. There was no delicate and
harmonious phrasing when they sang the songs. The piece would not move
and flow as beautifully as it could have because the conductor chose to not
stylize the piece. The three songs performed were titled The Lady in the
Water, Sit Down Servant, and Cantate Domino. My favorite piece was
The Lady in the Water because it reminded my of the lyrically driven

pieces that we typically sing in our choir. Their rendition was very beautiful
and more musical and flowing compared to the other songs. Cantate
Domino was a playful and more upbeat song, but the choir had difficulty
maintaining that lighthearted energy. Facial expressions were also not as
prominent as I would expect, but it did not distract too terribly from the
overall performance. DSA Chamber Choir continues to be one of my favorite
choirs to go listen because they sing beautiful literature, have a wonderful
sound, and blend beautifully.