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REBECCA HALE
Reverb Co-Editor
King Concert Hall neared capacity last Wednesday as hundreds of students, faculty, family and community members sat in anticipation of Fredonia’s largest musical event of the year. The School of Music — partnered with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and the Chautauqua Youth Chorus — had been working tediously for many months to bring together a moving performance of J.S. Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.”
The “St. Matthew Passion” is a masterpiece which includes scores for two orchestras and two choirs as well as many soloists, including the roles of Jesus, Judas, Peter, Pontius Pilate and an evangelist, who acts as the narrator. The work takes the audience musically through the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, as told by the biblical Gospel of Matthew. The entire text is sung in German, and the English translation was projected above the stage for the audience’s better understanding.
The two choirs were made of members of the Fredonia Masterworks Chorus and the Chancel Choir of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Combined, the choirs were made up of 114 voices, and additional parts in the first half were supplemented by the Chautauqua Youth Senior Chorus, made up of 21 young choristers. Thirty-five musicians from the Philharmonic were split between the two orchestras. Featured soloists were students and faculty, as well as guest artists.
Putting together such a massive work was impressive on all parts, as all ensembles and soloists were only able to rehearse together thrice prior to the actual performance.
Some of the featured musicians gave their input for a better look at what went into this performance of the Passion, after its fin.
Carly Hand is a freshman applied music major and a member of the Masterworks Chorus. For her, preparing for the “Passion” was tiresome, but thrilling in the end.
“We had to pay attention to such minor details and we analyzed every section of the book,” Hand said. “We also had to write down the translations of the words so we knew what we were singing.”
She noted that the Masterworks Chorus had been rehearsing since the beginning of the academic year, spending over six hours per week on the “Passion” in recent weeks.
Julie Newell was one featured soloist, and she is a current SUNY Distinguished Professor as well as the director of the Hillman Opera program at Fredonia. For Newell, this is not her first experience performing the “St. Matthew Passion”; she has performed it once before as a soprano soloist alongside the Charlotte Symphony.
As a professor, Newell worked hard to balance her schedule between time she devoted to the “Passion” and her students, though for her, it was an inspiring experience.
“Although it causes the need to do some significant scheduling adjustment, it is always wonderful to be in windows of time where I get to both sing and teach in the same week, as they are symbiotic,” Newell said. “One feeds the other … I always feel re-energized in my teaching when having a chance to perform for an audience, and likewise, the teaching schedule allows me to be my own ‘best teacher’ and I practice with more intention.”
For senior vocal performance major Michael Hawk, time management was equally tricky. Hawk played the role of Judas, and he is also currently in the process of auditioning for graduate school.
After the performance was over, Hawk said he felt “relieved and proud.”
“Coming in at a taxing three-hour run time, the ‘St. Matthew Passion’ is nothing short of a musical marathon: exhausting, intense and very rewarding,” he said.
Due to his other obligations with grad school auditions, Hawk was unable to join the other ensembles in Buffalo on Friday, where another performance was put on at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. This just goes to show, in Hawk’s own words, “that’s the nature of this business.”
Newell’s vast experiences as a musician allow her the ability to reuse her experiences in many ways. She began work on her solos for this performance last summer, and she was able to present one of her arias in two recitals she performed last September in both Buffalo and Syracuse.
“These are the kind of works which one wants to allow to ‘ferment’ — to reside in both your body and your mind for some time,” Newell explained.
For Hawk, his role as Judas gave him the ability to work on his character skills. Hawk is well-known at Fredonia for his operatic voice, and recently played a principal role in “The Merry Widow.”
“In oratorio or concert settings, it is typical to only embody your character while you are standing or presenting your material,” Hawk explained. “However, as an exercise in my own personal commitment to the role and Judas’ dramatic development, I attempted to remain in character throughout the entirety of [the] work.”
Hawk’s commitment to his character truly showed on his face throughout the concert, in both vocal moments and moments of rest.
“My favorite non-singing acting moment came during the passionate, bloodthirsty and brimstone-filled turbae chorus entitled ‘Sind Blitze,’ in which the chorus viciously condemns the evil deeds of Judas. I found myself terrified at the thought of betraying one of my best-friends, sending him to his death, and facing the wrath of hundreds of his followers. It was truly exhilarating, even though I was sitting down,” he said.
For Newell, the performance renewed her love for Fredonia.
“This is one of the greatest works in the classical music canon, and is humbling. Not only did participation in this event re-invigorate my own singing and teaching, it makes me even more proud to be a Fredonian … past and present.”
On a final note, in the words of Hawk, all performers and audience members have, ultimately, one man to thank, for orchestrating it all.
“It was incredible to watch the preparation of hundreds of musicians culminate in a wonderful performance, with only a few short rehearsals together: thanks largely to the wonderful organization skills, professionalism and passion that our director, Gerald Gray, brings to the table everyday.”
Tags: St. Matthew Passion, Bach, Masterworks Chorus, Gerald Grey, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church