John Hult

SDSU students, Brookings residents and proud parents were given the opportunity to preview the music SDSU’s Concert Choir will perform at six concerts in Europe over spring break Saturday as the Choir performed its first concert of the year in the Main Hall of the Performing Arts Center.

Under the direction of Dr. Charles Canaan, the Choir began with a Mozart piece adapted from Psalm 66 titled “Jubilate Deo.” Deo, like most of the pieces that will be performed in Europe, was sung acapella. Canaan explained that the group will perform mostly acapella material throughout the tour for ease of performance in the chapels of Germany, France and Belgium.

“There won’t always be a piano available in Europe,” Canaan said.

The Choir also performed a series of Motets for the Season of Lent by Francis Poulenc during the first of the concert’s three parts. The first portion of the show ended on a high note, literally, with “Alleluia” by Ralph Manuel.

The second part of the show featured two small ensembles–the first an ensemble of six men and six women and the second, a student-organized group of 12 men. The mixed ensemble performed Five Flower Songs and “Doremaredansen” during their time on stage. The men’s group performed songs focusing on “the people”–the “people” in this case being Irish working men drinking after a day’s work in “A Round of Three Country Dances in One,” and sailors in “A Sailor’s Tale” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore.

The third act consisted of spirituals and jazz tunes by American composers. The finale saw Canaan conducting his Choir from the stage as they stood in the aisles of the concert hall serenading their friends and family.

The choir will spend spring break in Europe, performing first in Kampen, The Netherlands, and finishing the series of six concerts on March 7 in Paris.

#1.887294:4115123049.jpg:choir triptoeurope.jpg:The SDSU Concert Choir will travel to Europe to bring its selections to three countries over Spring Break.: