By: Beth Ward, Transcript Correspondent
The voices of 60 Ohio Wesleyan students filled the chambers of Gray Chapel as the Choral Art Society and Chamber Choir performed their winter concert.
The Choral Art Society and the Chamber Choir performed on Sunday Dec. 6 from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. The choir is made up of OWU students ranging from freshmen to graduating seniors.
The concert was the first performance of the choir for the 2016 school year. They will be performing again in Gray Chapel in the coming spring.
The Choral Art Society is conducted by Christopher Dent and the Chamber Choir is conducted by Jason Hiester. Each choir is made up of four groups, the bass, the tenor, the sopranos and the altos.
The Choral Art Society is an open choir for anyone who wants to join while the Chamber Choir is an audition only choir. About 15 students make up the Chamber Choir for the 2016 school year.
Each choir performed a series of songs on Sunday. The Choral Art Society sang eight songs with a small break between every two in which conductor Dent explained what the next two songs were about.
The Choral Art Society ended their part of the concert at 3:45 p.m. Leading into a 15 minute intermission before the Chamber Choir took the stage.
The Chamber Choir performed five songs from Edward Elgar, a famous composer between the years of 1857 an 1934. He composed “The Spirt of the Lord is upon me (The Apostles, Op.48),” which the choir opened with.
Elgar’s Apostle was accompanied by the organ that was played by Joshua Brodbeck. “The organ gave an interesting tone to the song. It sounded beautiful, but left me with a slight weary feeling in my stomach,” said Melissa Smith, former OWU student class of 2014.
Heister led the Chamber Choir through four more songs ending the concert with “The Dance.”
“The Dance was a more lively song compared to the first. It had a very upbeat rhythm and left the audience on a happy note, it was an excellent way to end the concert,” said Grace Ford, senior from Hayes High School.