The Michigan Tech concert choir and the conScience chamber singers are coming together this weekend to provide audiences with a beautiful concert in St. Joseph Catholic Church. This church provides amazing acoustics to allow the voices of the choirs to meld and mesh in such a way that they almost take on an ethereal tone.
The choirs perform this concert to raise donations for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a sort of secondhand store located in Hancock that provides a variety of affordable clothing, furniture, and other items, similar to Goodwill stores but a smaller organization.
The society of St. Vincent de Paul which is a national society is dedicated to ending poverty through systemic change. They help people donate vehicles to people in need, provide disaster relief for families and offer person-to-person service wherever help is needed.
The choirs will come together to sing a variety of lilting music that will fill and surround the church with lifting voices. It is magical to be in the room as they bring together the sounds and harmonies with the gentle reverberations of the church space.
The songs will include ‘alleluia’ pieces this year as the concert is taking place before the Lenten season. This is notable because it is forbidden to use the word ‘alleluia’ in a Catholic church setting during Lent, as it is a time to prepare rather than a time to celebrate and this concert often takes place during Lent. There will be three different kinds of ‘alleluia’ songs, one by Jake Runestad, one by Randall Thompson, and finally a piece by Sixten and multiple other composers.
One song will be sung in Hebrew while another will be performed in Latin, providing a beautiful variety of sounds that are distinctly different from English, allowing the audience to focus on the feeling of the music more than the lyrics. Some songs will of course also be performed in English, so there’s no need to worry about not being able to understand any of what’s being said.
The concert choir and chamber singers will be performing separately for the most part, but they may all come together for at least one song to provide the audience with a beautiful collaboration. This concert is one that could soothe the stress in anyone and raises awareness for a great cause.
If you’re interested in beautiful and softer music or more unique songs, this concert will be a great event to go to. The backdrop of the church is also gorgeous with Gothic architecture pointing all the seats to the front of the church where the choirs are singing.
The concert will be on Sunday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. The venue is located at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lake Linden, MI, a short drive for a couple of hours of beautiful scenery and music. This event will be free to anyone attending and is open to the community as well as students.
*Note: This story ran Feb. 28
