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In the Beginning @ CSU Waetjen Auditorium 3/6 March is the month for renewal and coupled with the 200th anniversary of composer Franz Joseph Haydn's death, it seems appropriate for an abundance of choral works by the great master, especially from his oratorio The Creation.

Betsy Burleigh, director of Choral Music at Cleveland State University presented her Chorus and Chorale in works on this theme, under the general heading of In the beginning... on Friday evening in Waetjen Auditorium. Neither ensemble is very large, but there are good voices in abundance, and the singers were all supremely focused in the five works.

The Chorus (the larger of the two groups) performed first, beginning with a short piece for organ and chorus by the English Benjamin Britten. Jubilate Deo also featured the excellent local keyboardist Cara Chowning, who moved down to the piano for a later selection by Haydn. Creation by William Billings was, however, sung a capella, a true test for choral groups, and this was very well done.

A contemporary piece by the American Daniel Pinkham In the beginning of creation featured a pre-recorded sound tape with wind machine and sea noises. The Chorus also made sounds, rather than singing words, and in one short section was quite reminiscent of the Britten piece.

The final piece by the Chorus was The heavens are telling by Haydn from his The Creation. Ms. Burleigh drew a robust sound from the three dozen or so singers for this joyous work.

Dawn Mitchell, a member of the Chorale, was the soloist for In the beginning by the American Aaron Copland. Her voice is lovely in its clarity and her exquisite diction made every syllable intelligible. Drawing on the same structure as Haydn (and this was day one, or two, etc.) the seven days of creation were treated very differently, however, by the composer’s own spare musical style. Each day’s efforts were gracefully outlined by the soloist, with the chorale providing accompaniment in four-part mixed harmony.

All in all, it was a splendid, if brief, evening of choral music. The next concert by these musicians is April 28. If you like choral music, you’ll be pleased with what you hear when you attend one of these performances. Nearly all performances are free and open to the public, and generally, parking is free, as well, for evening events.

The CSU music performance calendar may be found at http://www.csuohio.edu/class/music/calendar.html.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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