With “The Light is the Same,” the Grinnell Singers returned to Sebring-Lewis Hall in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts to perform the songs they had debuted on their spring break tour of the Midwest. The performance on Sunday, April 6, was divided into two sections — “Songs of Earth, Songs of Hope,” featuring pieces centered around place, and “The Light of Love,” which intertwined themes of love and faith.
The concert on Sunday contained many of the same songs performed on the Midwest tour and was intended as a culmination of the time that had been put into each piece. “Over tour we cut some things because it was too loud, and this was the concrete set that we were supposed to do … I think it went well,” said choir member Eva Rousseau `27.
“We’re building a lot of energy throughout the tour … we’re always trying to perfect it,” said Jadyn Al-Fatah `27, another member of the choir, “Just as we go along, we’re getting a little more excited with each piece. Coming back to do it all for Grinnell was a big closing moment, and put all that energy back out.”
The concert kicked off with “You Through Me,” composed by Alex Berko. John Rommereim, professor of music at Grinnell and conductor of the Singers, introduced the song as written from the perspective of the Elizabeth Street Garden in New York. This theme of place and homeland united pieces composed across centuries, including a lively piece by Johannes Brahms and the percussive “Vasija de Barro” by Javier Zentner. In “Zoryu Byut,” by Gyorgy Sviridov, the choice to create balanced acoustics by having the soprano soloists, Rousseau and Violet McCloskey `28, stand off stage, was inspired by the text’s focus on memories and created a haunting, echoing musical effect.
Introducing the second thematic part of the concert, Rommereim emphasized the “nuances of emotion” in “Blagosloven yesi ghospodi” by Sergei Rachmaninov, a piece describing the arrival of the women to Jesus’s tomb to care for his body. Al-Fatah said, “We’re able to delve into it a bit more … that comes with figuring out what emotions we need to have at certain points. A lot of emotional building.”
The centerpiece of the set was the three sections of Reena Esmail’s “This Love Between Us,” which concentrate on different religions in India, including Christianity, Jainism and Islam. The final movement contained a central inspiration behind the performance, with the lyrics“the lamps may be different, but the light is the same,” a quotation from Rumi.
The performance of “O My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose” included the choir forming a U-shape around the audience, which choir members said was intended to create a more intimate, holistic sound. Valeriya Woodard `25, the choir’s president, said “Singing towards each other was really beautiful … we could hear the different parts more.”
The concert concluded with “Hallelujah,” arranged by Mervyn Warren and Teena Chinn, conducted by Al-Fatah. “The ensemble is so good, so I don’t have to conduct everything, so I’m able to move and just have fun,” he said. The energetic final song brought home a sense of community. “Now it feels like we’re kind of a family singing together, we know each other’s energy more,” said Woodard. “It’s like an uncommunicated vibe that’s happening.”
The Singers have another concert on May 4 in which they will perform new repertoire. Woodard said she hopes that the Singers take the connection and sound they’ve created to hone their next performance, “taking that bond and moving forward to continue to create blended, balanced sounds.”
