MATTHEW BAUM
Staff Scallywag
There was an undeniable electricity in the air at Fredonia a few weeks ago. This year is the tenth anniversary of the university-wide choral festival, and for such a vital milestone, the faculty decided to go all-out. Members of the various singing ensembles on-campus including College Choir, Chamber Choir, Camerata and others, were present for the extravagant music-themed festivities.
The various ensembles were instructed to prepare and perform a song made popular on the video-sharing app TikTok. King Concert Hall was filled with the melodic ring of Arizona Zervas’ hit song “Roxanne” and “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Suede. There was also a bold choice made by professor Vernon Huff to teach his Chamber Choir an a cappella arrangement of the confrontation scene from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, while two seniors played the roles of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
A karaoke machine was set up in the lobby of King Concert Hall for public use, filled with the works of legendary composers Moses Hogan, Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjeilo. Those who left the numerous singing spectacles inspired could gather a group and perform eight-part harmony at sight. Meanwhile, those around them spoke loudly about their thoughts on the previous performance and where they should go have supper.
Even outside of Mason Hall, the choral fever was spreading. Groups of people walking around campus were reported to have started singing whole-note scales unprompted, some even going so far as mentioning how they need to place a greater emphasis on shadow vowels at the ends of phrases. Bryce Levi, a junior taxidermy major, stated that he and his friends were making their way from the University Commons to Williams Center when he said the phrase “glottal attack” out loud.
“I don’t even know what that means now, but when I said it, I totally did,” he stated. Levi has never been a performer in a choral setting, but it just goes to show the effect music can have on the people around it.