Every year, High Point University’s four choirs, the University Singers, Chamber Singers, Women’s Chorus and Chapel Choir, all come together to put on the Spring Choral Concert. Additional performers this year included an orchestra of both students and faculty, all together totaling roughly 125-150 musicians.

The concert was opened by the Chamber Singers with the song “Entreat Me Not to Leave You,” which is particularly significant for HPU junior Erika May as well as many others in the choir. As May describes it, “It’s the idea of being committed to something past the point which is reasonable or rational. The entire choir has this deep connection to it.”

The show continued with pieces such as “Good Night Dear Heart” performed by both the Women’s Chorus and the Chamber Singers. The combined choirs performed songs including “You Are the Music” with a solo performance by Callie Klinkmueller and “A Covenant Prayer,” which Dr. Marc Foster, chair of the department of music, noted as being particularly significant for him. Music selections for this three-part show were made primarily by Foster from Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living.

Dan Forrest has been renowned in the music publishing industry for years and is currently publishing a great deal of both church choral music and concert choral music. Having this award-winning composer’s input to help with this concert was a big deal, especially to a group of students who, as May mentions, are all big fans of his work.

Also featured were the winners of HPU’s first annual Concerto Competition, seniors Meaghan Reney and Madison Jordan. Reney performed “Concertino, OP. 107” by Cécile Chaminade on flute, followed by Jordan who sang a collection of three of Aaron Copeland’s “Old American Songs.” As Foster pointed out, it’s quite rare for students to perform with an orchestra as it’s more expensive and harder to do, so having these performers backed by a full orchestra was an exciting event as well and the first time this has been done at HPU.

Preparation for the concert began after returning from spring break, but the major rehearsals took place in the week leading up to the performance including combined rehearsals with all four choirs and four hour long dress rehearsals.

The concert was impressive to and resonated with people outside the music department. Freshman Jesse Coulson remarks, “Usually when I go into a concert that’s not largely in English, I just count down the minutes until it’s over. But they were really great at conveying feeling through other parts of the music, so it was really interesting to listen to. They sang with so much passion that it wasn’t hard to pay attention.”

Overall, everyone involved dedicated a great deal of energy and hard work that ended up paying off, and this year’s Spring Choral Concert was ultimately a success.