It was my absolute pleasure to attend NSU’s sixth annual “Peace: A Holiday Concert”, Nov. 30, put on by The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Performing and Visual Arts.
The concert began with a piece from the Bossa Nova Chorale, the premier vocal ensemble of the Division of Performing and Visual Arts. The piece, entitled: “Missa pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo” was announced by Chorale director Devin Arne as something that the choir had worked on all semester. Their efforts absolutely seemed to pay off, as the students seamlessly performed series after series of operatic pitches. I was especially impressed that the entire piece — which was originally written for members of the Roman Catholic Church to sing as a blessing for the dead — was sung in its original Latin language. I thoroughly enjoyed its scriptures, as the singers’ voices made everything feel so delightfully peaceful.
The next part of the concert was performed by a band made up of talented vocalists and musicians playing a variety of instruments, including conga drums, saxophone, acoustic guitar, drums, clarinet, piano, and keyboard. The first song “Cry Me a River”, sung by vocalist Gretchen Serroa, had jazzy undertones accompanied by heavy drums beats. Its piano and saxophone solos made me forgot for a moment that I was at NSU; it felt like part of a real jazz club in Louisiana.
Another song “Price Tag”, performed by Jessica Daez, was a fun, light rock number, featuring a surprise hip hop solo. Emiliana Arteche perfectly performed the oldies piece “I’ll have a Blue Christmas”, complete with melancholy tones and entertaining mannerisms. Other holiday hits at the concert included “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Winter Song”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
One of the last pieces performed, “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind” — from the Shakespeare play “As You Like It” — added a theatrical twist to the concert, as the choir performed a melody that sounded like a winter storm on the horizon.
In addition, the men of the Bossa Nova Chorale sang “Silent Night” without instrumentals and the women sang “Christmas Song” without accompaniment. The entire Bossa Nova Chorale ended the concert on a spicy note with “A la Nanita Nana” and “Riu riu chiu”, accompanied by conga drums and sung completely in Spanish.
Throughout the entire evening, I could tell that many dedicated hours of practice must have gone into each performance. The concert was a wonderful addition to my holiday season.
