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In keeping with the aloha spirit, HPU Director of Choral Activities
Susan McCreary Duprey presented a lei to conductor Tim Sharp,
the maestro for the Carnegie performance. Making a surprise
appearance at the first rehearsal, and also receiving a lei,
was the renowned classical composer himself, Dr. Morten Lauridsen,
who described the message he intended for the compositions
being performed as solemn and uplifting. Sharp began the rehearsal
with “Aloha! Now, let’s take it from the top.”
Before their June 13 Carnegie debut, the HPU group toured several
historic monuments, including the hallowed ground zero at the
World Trade Center, site of the 9-11 devastation. For most
of the students, this was a first visit to New York, and all
were struck by the solemnity of the site.
“
The music we bring to New York, Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna,
is particularly appropriate,” Duprey said. “The
title of this spiritual piece translates as ‘eternal
light,’ and the words suggest the meaning ‘may
perpetual light shine upon those who have perished.’”
For the Carnegie performance the group sang two of Lauridsen’s
works—O Magnum Mysterium and Lux Aeterna—in Latin.
The HPU singers, who embody the diversity found at HPU, joined
voices with five other outstanding choral groups from across
the nation. “The coming together of hundreds of singers,
blending into one harmonic voice, was truly profound,” exclaimed
Duprey.
Dozens of family members and friends of the HPU singers came
to New York for the performance. A special concert for a
group of about 35 such supporters was held the day before
the Carnegie
debut. The parents of HPU International Vocal Ensemble member
Kaleo Clarke flew in from the Big Island and brought leis
for the singers who wore them at the performance, spreading
some
aloha in the esteemed halls of Carnegie.
Following the matinee concert, the singers enjoyed a cruise
of New York Harbor entertained by sounds of Hawai‘i from
the ukulele of HPU student Jon Felarca from Salt Lake.
Relaxing after the performance the students expressed the
sense of heightened ohana they felt after sharing this experience.
HPU student Scott Shaub, the choral manager, summed it up: “We
were a close-knit group to begin with. Our director Susan Duprey
has not only led us to new heights vocally, she has also brought
us together as an ensemble in the true spirit of aloha. I know
that none of us will ever forget this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Shaub
added. And, he concluded, “I hope we left behind some
HPU warmth and aloha.” |
