The community gathered on Mar. 24 to hear the harmonious and angelic sounds of LBCC’s Viking singers, Viking chorale and Jordan High School’s Cantique choral singers performing in a show called, “Our Souls Shall Sing.”
This performance was directed by Skye Angulo the Viking Singers director, Juan-Jose Garcia, the Jordan High School choir director, and Andrew Kyuyoung the Viking Chorale director.
“I chose a piece that’s by Jake Runestad, and his song is called Your Soul is Song. I really love the poem and the story behind that composition, and I thought this is a great theme for an overall concert. When you think about it, music and singing are a part of human nature. We all sing, we sing to celebrate, we sing to comfort our sorrows, and we sing to learn… We are all connected to one another through music,” said choir director Skye Angulo.
The concert started with the Viking singers in the audience surrounding them while singing God is Seen by Alice Parker, the sound resembled surround sound audio with voices coming from all around.
In honor of Women’s History Month, the choirs chose pieces composed by women that evoked uplifting and empowering emotions.
“They (audiences) should look forward to a Smile on their face, and they should look forward to feeling better than when they came in, that is our goal. We want to uplift everyone’s spirits, we want to make them feel good, and we want you to forget the troubles that are going on outside of the concert,” said Angulo.
This is not the first time LBCC and Jordan High School choirs have joined forces. They have been singing together for the past couple of semesters, and LBCC’s choir has gone to their high school auditorium to perform.
Jordan High School just returned from performing at Carnegie Hall in New York, and LBCC’s choir also just returned from a busy weekend.
“Last night, my choir and I were at Cal State Fullerton, and we sang at their Invitational festival, and that was a really great event, so we all slept in today for sure. It gets busy around this time of the semester and that can be a bit of a challenge too. Making sure you’re balancing your workload, your school load and having a bit of time for yourself is important,” said Angulo.
The students have been rehearsing outside of class time, with section leaders taking it upon themselves to gather their sections and practice together.
This concert is one of two performed each semester, and it serves as an opportunity for students to gain experience performing in front of a crowd..
“It was just a beautiful feeling, the conductor was so positive and happy, and I think that it made the audience feel that as well. I think they all did wonderfully, it was very fun and I’m looking forward to the next one on June 1st,” said audience member Marty Ornelas.
During the concert, it was mentioned this semester would be student assistant director Justin Parron’s last semester at LBCC.
“They did great, they lit up the room, and I just think they were very impressive,” said audience member Ivette Lopez.
Toward the end of the concert, the drumming ensemble surprised audiences by bringing out trash cans to play Fresh Trash by Ed Arginziano.
“I like that Fresh Trash song they were very good it was different and unique,” said Ornelas
The drumming ensemble, a new class that began this spring semester, meets on Saturdays for practice and is open to everyone, regardless of major.
The last two closing songs were Rise, Shine and a mashup of I Love You and What a Wonderful World.
“The last song was my favorite seeing everyone being united of all different ages, I thought that was powerful..brought me happiness, hopefulness and peace,” said audience member Ivonne Lopez.
Audiences can look forward to seeing the choir perform in John Rutter’s Gloria on Saturday, June 1st, at 7 pm in the Bob and Barbara Ellis auditorium.