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With a wide assortment of pieces, from reverent to worldly, Octarium gave a riveting performance on Saturday at the Parkville Presbyterian Church. For the audience of one hundred, the space was just the right size—small enough to feel intimate yet large enough to appreciate the octet’s abilities. 

Taking the audience on a gradual progression from solemn classical favorites in engaging arrangements to jazzy pop standards, Krista Lang Blackwood showed her programming finesse as Octarium’s artistic director.

Though the surprisingly fresh and beautiful arrangement by alto member Leah Hamilton Jenkins Veni, Veni, Emmanuel had a few rough edges in the opening as the group warmed up, there were still more than enough beautiful moments to make up for the initial inconsistencies.

Daniel Gawthrop’s Lo, How a Rose arrangement featured a complete divisi of the octet. Parts of the piece were very exposed and very well executed by the eight singers, with impressive musically infused counterpoint throughout.

Prominent solos were a feature of nearly every piece on the program with the spotlight focused primarily on founding members in the first half. John Jacob Niles’ arrangement of I Wonder as I Wander featured soprano Ashley Winters’ cherubic, ringing voice especially well, while David N. Childs’ arrangement of O Magnum Mysterium highlighted bass-baritone Benjamin Winters’ sonorous, multi-faceted voice. Winters added a rich, robust bass to Alice Parker and Robert Shaw’s arrangement of What Child is This as the texture filled, while Tytus Abrahamson’s beautiful lyric tenor voice was highlighted in that selection’s solo.

Still, Still, Still, in an arrangement by Norman Luboff, was the group’s best showing of delicate homophonic textures, with perfect harmony and ensemble synthesis, while a second arrangement of O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen was my favorite piece on the program. Lauridsen’s arrangement had a beautiful, climactic dissonance on the text “Beata Virgo” with the mezzo-soprano voices leaning heavily into a falling major second dissonance before resolving—it was a spellbinding and chillingly beautiful moment.

The second half of the program began with lighter fare in a Charles Wood arrangement of Ding, Dong Merrily on High, which had just enough harmonic spice to make the classic tune enjoyable and fresh.

Modern jazz vocalist, arranger, and saxophonist Darmon Meader’s arrangement of The First Noel was one of the highlights of the second half, with a rich, luxurious solo by lyric baritone Brady Shepherd as well as a nice feature of soprano Jaime Scherrer. Let It Snow also featured jazzy pop stylings with a “dup-ba-doo” vocal jazz background texture with sassy, brassy alto and sub-woofer-deep bass solos from Hamilton Jenkins, and Winters, respectively.

It was indeed nice to hear solo highlights for all eight members of Octarium in the second-half selections In Dulce Jubilo and the Twelve Days of Christmas. Though the soloistic focus on just a few performers in the first half would seem to suggest otherwise, each member demonstrated accomplished control of their instrument onstage. Michael Praetorius’ sixteenth-century setting of In Dulce Jubilo featured phrases for each performer in a variegated lattice-work of counterpoint. Geoffrey Keating’s Twelve Days of Christmas was witty and humorous with the focal point of the piece continually shifting around the stage.

Having never heard the group live before, I can now tell you that Octarium’s hype is true—exceptionally talented? Check. Beautiful vocal blend? Check. Artistry and professionalism? Check and check. Be sure to check out their next concert efforts and support this massive, homegrown talent.

REVIEW:
Octarium
Holidays with Octarium
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Parkville Presbyterian Church
819 Main St, Parkville , MO
For more information, visit Octarium.org. 

Top photo: Octarium (Photo by Mark Hutchinson)

By Topher Levin

Classical Editor and Contributor

Christopher (Topher) Levin is a composer, pianist, music theorist, and music blogger based in Kansas City, MO. His compositions have been performed at music festivals across the US and in Europe. He has spent two summers in Paris, France studying music at the Ecole Normale de Musique through the EAMA program. His trio for clarinet, piano, and percussion is published in the SCI Journal of Scores.

Topher holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (M.M.) in music theory and (M.M.) in composition and from James Madison University in Virginia (B.M.) in composition. Primary composition teachers have included John S. Hilliard, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Claude Baker, Narcis Bonet, Michel Merlet, and João Pedro Oliveira. His piano teachers have included Patricia Brady and Karen Kushner. Topher maintains a piano studio of 22 students.

Having recently completed a Master's thesis on the beautiful complexities of Chinary Ung's trio, Spiral I, Topher turned his writing attention to the more informal blogging medium. He has taken to it quite well, sharing posts on strange and wonderful music and art found across the web with a modest but growing number of blog followers. He looks forward to writing for KCM and sharing with its readers the stories of all the amazing musicians performing in Kansas City.