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There are few honors in the United States for choral ensembles as prestigious as being invited to perform at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. Maybe a national ACDA performance (American Choral Directors Association) or a featured performance at Carnegie hall would do it, but for Collegium Vocale and their conductor Dr. Ryan Board, being invited to perform on the Choral Artists Series at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival is all the recognition they need.

The Piccolo Spoleto Festival is a concurrent arts festival put on by the city of Charleston, SC, running at the same time as the Spoleto Festival USA. The Spoleto Festival was brought to America by Gian Carlo Menotti in 1977, patterned after the Festival of Two Worlds that he cultivated in Italy. Many top-of-the-line performers have had their major debuts at the Spoleto Festival, and in this, their inaugural season, Collegium Vocale is is adding their voices to this cherished tradition.

Last night, the 16-voice ensemble presented their Piccolo Spoleto program for a Kansas City audience. They were in top form in a program that was very carefully crafted, using texts that sought to uplift the human experience. The program, titled Pathos, Penitence, and Praise, was designed in an arch form. Starting with Pathos, the group performed two works by the Baroque composer Johann Schein. The ensemble sang both selections, Da Jakob vollendet hatte and Freue dich des Weibes deiner Jugend, with great German diction, crafting elegant vocal lines that revealed a romanticized underbelly. Through a great approach to text painting, Collegium Vocale found a wonderful rise and fall in both macro and micro vocal phrases.

The rest of the first half focused on Praise and Penitence. In Praise, we heard contemporary composer John Tavener's Funeral Ikos. Although this reviewer isn't the biggest fan of Tavener's music, this piece struck a chord. Tavener's appreciation of chant was not lost here, but the surprisingly lilting melody and 'Alleluia' refrains bore both praise and sadness. In Penitence, we were treated to two settings of 'Ave Maria' (Gombert and Verdi) and Górecki's Totus Tuus. The Gombert featured echoing phrases and great dynamic contrasts while the Verdi was shaky in places. Totus Tuus was a perfect modern piece for this group, who specializes in early music.

Finishing the arch form, Collegium Vocale performed the second half starting with Penitence, then moved to Praise, and ended as they began, singing Pathos. The composers on the second half represent some of the absolute finest English composers in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In Cornysh's Ave Maria Mater Dei, the men of Collegium Vocale were featured, as they covered all the vocal parts using a brightened tonal color to bring out the work's open texture. Tallis' Lamentations of Jeremiah followed. Thomas Tallis always treats a vocal ensemble with elegance and refinement, and the group lived up to that treatment, singing overlapping descending lines that brought out Jeremiah's lament. In Praise, Dr. Board's group sang two wonderful selections by William Byrd, Haec Dies and Laudibus in Sanctis. Haec Dies was a wonderful contrast to the Tallis, as the exuberant tempo and ascending lines spoke truly of praise, and the exciting middle triple section was über exuberant. The singing of Laudibus in Sanctis was the highlight of the concert for this reviewer. In this lesser known of Byrd's works, the praise-filled text coupled with exciting imitative vocal lines gelled with seaming ease. The trebles were especially wonderful in this selection, impeccably tuning ending phrases and singing long, arcing melodies.

Last on the program, in a return to Pathos, Collegium Vocale sang Henry Purcell's Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei. Few composers in history are as text-centered as Purcell. The music closely adhered to the common Baroque aesthic, the doctrine of the affections (Baroque composers, through the use of rhetoric, placed the affect of text at the forefront of their compositional intentions and technique.) Tenor Jeremy Mims accompanied the group on the organ as they sang this personally introspective selection. The last line of text states (in translation): "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: Thy blessing is upon Thy people." This text, with Purcell's lovely musical setting, brought the entire concert to a satisfying close.

Dr. Board, along with his highly skilled troupe of singers, will no doubt represent UMKC and Kansas City well at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival next month.

REVIEW:
Collegium Vocale
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
St. John's Methodist Church
www.umkcccv.wordpress.com

By R. Douglas Helvering

Classical and Vocal Contributor (Past writer)