VYOA Blog

I should tell you: I am a member of both the VYO and the VYO Chorus.

The VYO Chorus will be joining the VYO to perform two pieces during the upcoming VYO concerts in May. Jeffrey Buettner, our choral conductor, will lead Fauré’s Pavane and Troy Peters, our VYO conductor, will conduct the Brahms Shicksalsied. Very exciting, this is the first time the two groups have performed together.

Being a member of both ensembles provides some interesting perspectives. When I’m rehearsing with the orchestra, there are occasional silences for a few bars where the chorus will be singing without accompaniment. Mr. Peters has been reminding us that when Dr. Buettner is conducting, he may be paying more attention to the chorus, which is a bit different from our usual rehearsals because we do not routinely rehearse with the chorus.

Dr. Buettner has been saying similar things in our chorus rehearsals. Because Mr. Peters is used to conducting an orchestra with many parts, he may not cue every entrance of every choral part. He has been trying to convince us to not rush or drag at all in the Brahms, because the orchestra has to play many more notes than we have to sing. For example, in one part of the piece, the strings in the orchestra are playing fast sixteenth notes while the chorus is singing loud dotted half notes; if the chorus rushes this particular part (as we’ve been prone to doing), we’ve been warned that the string players’ arms will probably fall off!

The Chorus just sang in two spring concerts this past Thursday and Friday. These concerts included the two pieces we will be also singing with the VYO in May. Sammy Angstman was our piano accompanist and she did an amazing job with a piece that normally features a full orchestra. During the final moments of the Brahms, which is purely orchestral, Sammy played the ending as a piano concerto. Kelly Herrmann played her flute along with Sammy on the Pavane to help fill out the accompaniment. The piece is flowing and beautiful; Kelly’s sound really enriched the orchestra-less rendition.

The concerts went well; one was at the VYOA’s home, the Elley-Long Music Center at Saint Michael’s College, and the other was in the Middlebury College Center for the Arts Concert Hall. It is always exciting for musicians to explore the acoustics of a new space, and the Middlebury hall is a great venue, especially for vocal music.

All this musical  activity has me anticipating our joint concert to perform the Brahms and the Fauré… You should definitely try to see one of our concerts!
–Suzanne Calhoun     (Photo: Lisamarie Charlesworth)