The Bellaire Choir held their “Let My Heart Be Wise” concert with over 80 audience members attending in the auditorium on Oct. 9.
Bellaire’s Harmonia, Cantamus and Belle Voci Ensemble choirs started the evening with “Stardust” written by B.E. Boykins. The piece featured percussion on which Bellaire alumni Kai Plank played the drums. The song was the first time a student conducted a choir, with senior and choir president Carlos Mata as the conductor.
“I felt a little pressure up there,” Mata said. “My hands were shaking a little bit and all that. But after that, I got more eased up into it.”
“Stardust’s” musicality and unique rhythms especially resonated with sophomore and first-year choir student Suriyah Anthony, who is a part of the Cantamus choir.
“It has a lot of crescendos, getting louder, and decrescendos,” Anthony said. “I think it impacts the meaning of the song better.”
After the opening piece finished, the Belle Voci Ensemble choir performed “Voce Mea” composed by Christi Jones. The song, sung in Latin and based on the Bible verse Psalm 3:4, conveys hope and relief that God has heard the cries of help from lost souls.
Afterwards, the All-State District Choir performed “Look Down, Fair Moon” written by Mari Esabel Valverde. The choir is composed of students who have passed the first round of auditions for the All-State Texas Choir.
Senior and choir co-vice president Emmerie Napier was one of the altos who performed this song. Napier had been part of the Bellaire Choir since freshman year and had previously made it into the All-State Choir her junior year.
“We were having fun with it,” Napier said. “And you could tell that we really wanted to be there because we did and we do.”
Napier found that the preparation which went into the concert helped her gain confidence and a good headspace to perform in.
“It felt good that all of [these] people could see my hard work and believe in me,” Napier said. “We do a lot of hard work in this class, and we put a lot of time in to perfect little things”
Next, the Cantamus, intermediate women’s choir, sang two pieces. The first piece was “Omnis Terra” written by Ruth Morris Gray, and the second was “Cada Cosa” by Eddie Cavazos and Trevor Phillips.
Anthony sang the soprano two, or middle, line in the songs, creating the dissonance or harmonies in the pieces, which is often challenging.
“It’s hard for me to tell exactly what my volume is because of all the people around me,” Anthony said. “I just can’t hear myself as much, so I don’t know if I’m being too loud or too quiet.”
After the Cantamus choir finished, the Madrigal choir, an advanced mixed choir with both women and men, sang “Libertango” written by Astor Piazzolla and arranged by Oscar Escalada. Mata said this was his favorite song of the night as it made him feel good nerves.
The Madrigal choir also performed “My Very Own” by Susan LaBarr. The song describes how giving one’s heart away is love. During the phrases where the lyrics proclaim the greatest parts of love, the song grows, crescendoing and magnifying the intended emotion.
The last song the Madrigal choir performed was “Apple Tree” arranged by Katerina Gimon. Originally a pop song by alternative artist Aurora, after an arrangement by Gimon, the song became filled with vocalization and clapping.
As a featured percussionist in the piece, Napier had to both sing and drum, something she was enthusiastic about.
“I really love [Apple Tree] because I get to drum for it,” Napier said. “The different moving lines are so cool, and I really like the message of it.”
After Madrigal’s part of the show, the Chorale Harmonia sang “Begin Again” written by Daniel Brinsmead.
The next piece performed was Chorale Musaic’s “Tshotshloza,” a traditional South African folk song that was arranged by Jeffery Ames. The song featured soloists like senior Carlos Mata, freshman Kanu Baldwin, junior Wesley George and sophomore Will Senseman. Alumni Kai Plank and junior Emmerie Napier played the percussion for this piece.
The last section of the concert featured the Concert Chorale, made up of Chorale Harmonia and Chorale Musaic. They performed two pieces: “Actus,” a Latin piece by Ryan Main and the finale, “Inkosi Namandla,” an isiZulu piece arranged by Michael Barrett.
The time put into the concert was immense — preparation for the concert started the second day of school with additional practices after school, according to Bellaire Choral Director Amy Solberg-Odiase.
“We didn’t have a single free day,” Solberg-Odiase said. “We come in, [and we] warm up. We’re working on technique and literacy skills, and we’re working on building musicality. It’s every day toward the end goal.”
Despite this being the first concert of the year, Solberg-Odiase believes that this concert will set a positive tone for the rest of the year.
“Student leaders do their job. It felt like they were ready to perform,” Solberg-Odiase said. ”They wanted to get on stage. To me, that means they want to work harder for the next one.”
To find out about upcoming performances, visit the Bellaire Choir’s website or follow Bellaire High School’s calendar for future events. To contact the Bellaire Choir Director, Amy Solberg-Odiase, message her on the choir’s website under “Contact Us” or contact the number +1 (713)-295-3704.
