On Sept. 28 SUU’s choir groups performed at the Heritage Center Theater. These groups include the Concert Choir, the all-women’s group Luminosa, and Opus choral ensemble. The groups demonstrated their complex comprehension of music by singing in a variety of different styles and languages, including Latin and Malay.
“Some of those songs were incredible. My favorite was definitely the third one,” said SUU student Lindsey Hardy from Saint George, referring to a song called “Ballade to the Moon,” by Daniel Elder. “Being an elementary education major, I’ve been learning a lot about how music affects us and how we learn. It helps us memorize and learn things faster. It also helps us cope with stress and difficult things and allows us to express ourselves. It’s really cool that SUU supports music like this.”
The last piece of the concert was performed together with hundreds of high school students who were in Cedar City for the SUU Choir Festival.
The high school students spent the days of the Festival participating in different workshops, during which, many high school students discussed the importance of the final songs lyrics and how they come together to mean that it’s okay to be broken sometimes.
The lyrics of “Blackbird,” by The Beatles rang through the theatre as the entire group performed the emotional song.
Krystal McCoy, Director of Choral Activities, explained to audience members that the high school students didn’t have much notice that they would be performing this piece. In fact, they learned and practiced the song on the bus ride to Cedar City.
After the last lyrics were sung, the crowd immediately rose to their feet in applause.
“You could tell there was something special happening during that last piece. You could feel the emotion,” said Sarah Wilcox, a chemistry major from Wrightwood, California who was in attendance. “The entire concert was amazing but that song was powerful.”
Story by: Jessica Stagg
j10stagg@gmail.com
Picture by: Jessica Stagg
