A chorus of collaboration
by Andrew Seguin
 Whether it’s between instrumentalists and singers, vocalists and conductors or, more simply, the eyes and the ears, music is a collaborative effort. In that spirit of collaboration, the Browning School Chorus recently joined Chapin’s Choral Club for a joint performance at News.
The two choruses sang selections that they had performed at last month’s Interschool Choral Festival, which was held at the Trinity School. Groups from eight schools sang two pieces each. In Chapin’s case, they were Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus and A Light Inside by Jim Papoulis.
When the Choral Club performed Papoulis’s piece at News, under the direction of music department head Patricia Norchi, the Dance Club performed alongside. The audience then heard Browning’s rendition of several African spirituals and Wake, Freshmen, Wake, before the two choruses joined one another to perform one piece together. The two becoming one opened up a wider range of the choral repertoire than either group could access alone.
“Collaboration between the choirs allows our students to sing pieces composed for mixed voices — soprano, alto, tenor and bass — along with the vast collection of choral music for women’s voices,” Miss Norchi explained.
Chapin’s a cappella group, Allepacca, also performed three songs. The program ended after a drumming ensemble composed of students from both schools performed a piece of their own creation, which neither Miss Norchi nor Browning’s choral director had helped to write. It was a testament to the good that comes when musicians get together and find their own accord.
Click here to see a photo gallery of the performance.
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