I
was a bit nervous about this Concentus concert. Not in terms of singing live
on radio, because other than host Mona Seghatoleslami periodically
making announcements into a microphone between songs, there was
little evidence that we were performing anything but
a lovely lunchtime concert. I was worried because we'd had kind of a rough dress rehearsal, at which we'd been honored with a visit by Philip Silvey, an
Assistant Professor at Eastman and the composer of our opening song,
“Bloom.” He applauded our spirit and our diction, but he agreed
with our conductor, Gwen, that our rhythm (the piece is written
mostly in 7/8) could use some work. He shared “the secret to
unlocking the rhythm” and advised us to think, “daffodil daisy
daisy.” It helped, but whether because of the pressure to perform
for the composer, or because we were tired, or because were missing
several singers, we didn't exactly rally. And there was another, less
familiar song that had the potential to go off the rails. As it
turned out, both pieces went fine – instead, I gave myself an
“inadvertent solo” on something I normally could sing in my
sleep... |
| WXXI Host Mona Seghatoleslami, Linda Boianova (our awesome pianist), and conductor Gwen Gassler |
Hochstein
is such a lovely space for a performance, and Mona was great – she
promoted our group at each break, informing listeners of our upcoming
concert with the RPO, giving them our web address, and letting
them know that any interested singers should consult the website about
auditioning. Our in-house audience was very appreciative, and I felt
confident that we performed well for them. I trust that the people
who did the sound check made sure that our dynamic
changes would be audible on the radio, as well. It was a fun concert, with a nice balance of the sacred and secular, English and foreign-language, upbeat and contemplative. 
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