This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Upper school vocal groups came together for In Concert on May 2. Jennifer Sandusky directed Bel Canto in a diverse set including “Tres Cantos Nativos Dos Indios Krao,” a song that combines melodies sung by South American natives.
The girls choir Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace, sang selections from Europe, including “Dancing Song” by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály.
Next, the always-entertaining boys a cappella group Guys’ Gig brought smiles and laughter to the show with pre-intermission picker-uppers.
Camerata, also directed by Nace, opened the second half of the show, finishing with Greg Gilpin’s “Keep on Walkin’ Down that Heavenly Road.”
Show choir Downbeat, co-directed by Sandusky and Laura Lang-Ree, came out of the gate with a rousing version of “Something’s Coming” from “West Side Story.” They were joined by Bel Canto for the final song of the evening, Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run.”
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Harker singers from the lower, middle and upper schools gathered at San Jose’s Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater on April 1 for this year’s United Voices concert. Kellie Binney-Smart led the Bucknall Choir in the night’s opening performance of W.B. Yeats’ “The Sally Gardens,” set to music by Benjamin Britten, before moving on to Bret McKenzie’s “Life’s a Happy Song” from “The Muppets.”
Dazzling performances by the middle school groups followed, with highlights including Dynamics’ rendition of Kirby Shaw’s “Happiness Is …,” led by Mary Ellen Agnew-Place; a performance of Duke Ellington and Don George’s “Hit Me With a Hot Note” by the grades 7-8 show choir Harmonics, directed by Agnew-Place and Monica Colletti; and Vivace’s version of the Phillip Phillips hit “Home,” directed by Dave Hart.
Meanwhile, upper school introductory choir Bel Canto, directed by Jennifer Sandusky, delighted the audience with a medley of Brazilian folk songs and the Susan Nace-directed intermediate vocal ensemble Camerata sang “Dirait-on” from “Les Chansons de Roses.” Female vocal group Cantilena, also directed by Nace, displayed its multicultural talents with versions of Debussy’s “Nuits d’étoiles” and “Dravidian Dithyramb” by Victor Paranjoti. Soon after, Downbeat, codirected by Sandusky and Laura Lang-Ree, showed up to bring the house down, concluding with the Jason Mraz hit “I’m Yours/Over the Rainbow.”
As has become tradition, the show ended with all of the night’s singers assembled onstage for a special closing number, singing “O Sifuni Mungu” by David Maddux.