It was a neat day in chapel today, with a celebration of (if memory serves me) St. Michael and the Archangels featuring a fine sermon from Pastor Stephens and a snazzy piano prelude from Mike Kruse. The high point, however, had to be a lovely performance by Carthage’s Chapel Choir, which is flourishing splendidly under the direction of my colleague Dimitri Shapovalov. What began last year as a small but earnest, well-meaning, hard-working group has become a truly formidable ensemble. And it’s especially remarkable when I recall that not all that many years ago, Carthage’s Chapel Choir was made up entirely of women because the few Carthage men who sang were snatched up by the Carthage Choir. But with our singing ranks swelling every year – and this year on the men’s side especially – we now have two SATB choruses plus a good-sized Women’s Ensemble – plus the Lincoln Chamber Singers – plus Gospel Messengers.
But it is the spectacular growth of the Chapel Choir that is especially exciting and gratifying in all of this – and I felt such pleasure for them as I sat in the pew today and listened to them sing “Bless the Lord, O my Soul” by Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. What is it about those Russians and the gorgeous choral music they crafted? Dimitri, of course, as a native of St. Petersburg, has a special knack for conducting this kind of music – but I know from the eavesdropping I’ve done that the Chapel Choir is singing everything well these days. But they did some truly beautiful singing with this piece today.
And it’s interesting how the presence of a second fine mixed choir really changes the dynamics of our music department – and (I hope) changes the attitude of a handful of Carthage Choir members who have perhaps taken that opportunity for granted. It makes a bit of a difference, I think, when you know that there are all kinds of fine singers waiting in the wings, ready and able to take your spot if you are not ready and willing to give the level of commitment which this kind of group demands. And the excellence of the Chapel Choir I think galvanizes the members of the Carthage Choir to dig deep into themselves for all they have to give. I remember feeling that way at Luther, where there was a Chapel Choir under Bruce Tammen’s direction that did great singing of a very distinctive kind of repertoire. (In particular, Bruce liked to do a lot of Jewish music.) Before Bruce came along, I think Nordic Choir was the Only Big Man On Campus, chorally speaking – but the Chapel Choir’s excellence was a very healthy kick in the hind end and awakened us to the importance of completely fulfilling our potential rather than coasting on past trophies. (Of course, there were plenty of Nordic members- and I was really one of them – who were in it 110% from the moment we saw our name on the roster, but even for us the excellence of the Chapel Choir made us just a touch more determined to give Nordic the best of our best efforts.) What was also interesting about Chapel Choir was that it was a musical home for a few superb singers who were not comfortable singing in Nordic, despite having the sheer ability to do so. A couple of woman, for instance, with really big operatic voices believed (and probably rightly) that Chapel Choir would be a group where they would be able to sing out with full voice and with very little risk of being shushed from the podium, which would likely happen in a group like Nordic with its emphasis on blend.
What’s fun about different groups co-existing on a single campus is not just the matter of rivalry – who’s #1, who’s #2, and all that . . . but also living testament to the undeniable fact that there is not just one way to direct a choir well. When I was at Luther, I sang four years under Mr. Noble (as a freshman in Oratorio Chorus and three years in Nordic) and four years also under Bartlett Butler in the Collegium Musicum. Two more distinct conductors you could not find. Mr. Noble was incredibly methodical and organized – achieving emotional heights after first working meticulously through all technical matters and details. Dr. Butler was much more spontaneous and impulsive, unpredictable and turbulent – but achieved great things in the end. I was so enriched, musically, to have sung under both of them and if I’m a halfway decent choral conductor today, it is because I sang under two such dramatically distinct conductors and learned from both of them. And certainly, in the years I was conducting the Chamber Singers while Michael Burkhardt had the Carthage Choir, the singers who sang under both of us were seeing choral music being made by the musical equivalents of Martha Stewart and Roseanne Arnold (Guess who was who?) and, I trust, realized that both pathways were worthwhile. Carthage is blessed with three capable choir directors right now- Eduardo Garcia-Novelli, Dimitri Shapovalov, and our director of choral activities, Peter Dennee – and I for one really like the rich complexity of that, as opposed to a campus with one grand choral pooh-bah directing everything and everyone. How bland that would be.
So congrats, Chapel Choir, on what you have achieved thus far- and thanks for the angelic singing to which we were treated today.
pictured: The Chapel Choir singing at today’s chapel service, as conducted by Dimitri Shapovalov.