Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

This was the first concert in RSVP’s latest series, held on this Friday night at the comfortable Journey Church in Folsom. The title “It Takes a Village” (to raise a child), was a reminder that the “village” has to work together, and the emotions that bring people together were a prominent feature of tonight’s music.

As I looked around the room, waiting for the concert to start, it struck me that there are people who would not miss an RSVP concert — and I’m one of them. Still, there are never enough people at these concerts. (But I think that about most choral concerts.)

At the appointed time, RSVP Board Chair, Grant Mulligan, welcomed the audience and introduced the group and Artistic Director, Jennifer Reason. The concert itself began when the room went dark and the chorus entered single-file, in procession, from the back of the church. The women sang a chant as they moved, and in a way, they created the mood of a medieval convent. But the music didn’t sound ancient or even religious. Rather the voices overlapped, singing different phrases, and this continued until they took their places on the risers. Then the men began the melody of the “Sound of Silence” as the women continued their singing in what now seemed more like a descant. Soon, the 19 voices joined in the beautiful 4-part harmony that is so characteristic of this group. I noticed how, feeling the music, they moved as they sang, each one independently of the others. It was interesting that the arrangement had been written by Darita Seth, the Chanticleer alumnus and a special guest at their November concert last year.

(Click here to open the concert program in a new window.)

At this point Jennifer Reason welcomed us and gave a brief preview of what was to come. The next song, James Taylor’s “Lonesome Road,” had been arranged by RSVP member, Keir MacMillan. I was prepared for the 1927 spiritual by the same name, but this was a completely different piece, and a very pleasant surprise. It had such a pleasing melody (does James Taylor write any other kind?), presented with soulful harmonies and a gentle beat that took the listener to a relaxing, comfortable place.

This was followed by “At the End of All Things Is Love,” written for RSVP by member, Wyley Wilkin. Having just joined the group earlier this year, the multi-talented Wilkin actually asked if he could write a song for them, and what a song it was! Before it was performed, Wilkin spoke about his inspiration: concern for our present climate of divisiveness and his feeling that love and relationships are more important than agendas and ideologies. He then read the poem, which ended with the lines: “Love is the song of hope, / Love is the beacon in the night, / Love is the path that guides us home. / And it sings: / We are one / We belong.”

Wilkin directed his heartfelt, moving composition from within the choral formation, and when this beautiful piece with its inspiring sentiment had concluded, all I could think was that I’d like to hear it again — this time with the words in front of me, so that I could consider them more thoughtfully.

Reason then spoke to us again, pointing out that she had chosen the next selections because the composers had suffered from deafness or severe hearing loss. She made these choices to honor tonight’s designated charity, the CCHAT Center (see below). With that, the chorus sang Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” from his Ninth Symphony — but in a new arrangement. It featured the German words, plus Beethoven’s melodies and harmonies. But to me, this music was more intensely satisfying than the original, partly because it was performed a cappella, but mostly because of the great energy that the singers brought to it. Then without a break, Fauré’s “Cantique de Jean Racine” began with a masterful piano introduction by Reason, eventually joined by the chorus — singing in French.

Next on the program was a performance by baritone Kevin Doherty, a classically-trained and experienced singer, who is host of the Morning Classical program on Capital Public Radio. (Be sure to check his interesting background on page 7 of the program.) Doherty performed 4 selections from Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Song of Travel,” with lyrics by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Reason accompanied him on the piano. The selections each had a distinctive character, though I won’t try to describe each one. From the start it was clear that we were hearing a classically trained voice, with great care for articulation. Throughout I was impressed with Doherty’s demonstrations of vocal control, from restrained pianissimos to powerful fortissimos. His background piece references his experience with opera, and that influence was evident in his expressive, even dramatic, facial and hand-arm gestures. Most of his singing appeared to be from memory, as he scanned the audience during his performance. I must add that Jennifer Reason provided a perfect accompaniment, reinforcing the changing spirit of each section of this work.

It’s not always the case, but the presentation by the designated charity for this concert was a highlight of the evening for all of us in the audience. (For those unfamiliar with RSVP, each concert series supports a local charity, with all the proceeds of the evening going to that organization.) As explained in the program, “CCHAT is a listening and spoken language program whose mission is to teach children with hearing loss to listen and develop spoken language. CCHAT’s aim is to help each child be able to access mainstream education and integrate into the community at large.” (www.cchatsacramento.org)

CCHAT Center was introduced by RSVP’s Charity Coordinator, Karen Percy. CCHAT’s representative then spoke briefly about the importance of training hearing-impaired children to listen, while guiding them to various approaches for improving their hearing. After this, she introduced the first of several of their clients. The first was an eighth-grader who spoke eloquently of his experience. A third-grade girl and her mother were next, and they were followed by two brothers: a six-year-old who read from a script, and his 2nd-grade brother who spoke freely. He was followed by a 12-year-old who also spoke extemporaneously. First of all, every one of these kids was charming in his or her own way. They were bright and articulate in telling about their lives and how CCHAT had helped them. They were the perfect testifiers to this program that has helped them, not only to appreciate and perform music, but also to be involved in all the other activities that one might expect for children their ages. Several of them had visible cochlear implants on their heads — and behaving just like kids in every way. There were many moist eyes in the audience, as we heard their stories and saw how bright their futures are.

There were so many uplifting thoughts in this soul-filled concert, and that pattern continued with Jake Runestad’s “Let My Love Be Heard.” Performed a cappella (as most of tonight’s music was), the emotional build in this piece was absolutely thrilling, eventually descending into a delicate, tender ending.

At this point, Reason announced that it was time for “some fun songs.” The first of these was “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy.” Until a year or so ago, I had never heard it, but lately, this folk song, that dates from the 1930s, has become tremendously popular. It has an Appalachian sound to it and features percussion provided by the singers — clapping, tapping their chests, and stomping. RSVP’s performance had all these elements, and the fun they were having was unmistakable.

“Stand in That River” was another song with a country or mountain music sound. It started with a duet, and then built to a full chorus with incidental solos that displayed a lot of individual vocal talent, all the while to the accompaniment of guitar, bass and conga drum. The singers swayed to the gentle beat of the music, and it was so engaging that I think some in the audience were swaying, too — or would have liked to.

I’ve heard RSVP perform “Voice Dance” before, and it’s one of my favorites of their repertoire. In fact, there’s a 30-second cut of it on their website. It harkens back to the group’s roots when they had a greater emphasis on vocal jazz, and it’s a lively piece with nothing but scat lyrics. You could see that performing it gave these people an extra boost of energy. The high notes are some of the best parts of this arrangement, and there are a couple of ladies in the group who can really deliver on them.

Not surprisingly, “It Takes a Village” was the emotional climax of this concert. The singers began with hands on hearts, tapping rhythm. The accompanying conga drum and shaker (I believe it may be called a “shekere”) underscored the African sound of the music. One singer after another came to the front as the piece built in intensity. Smiles broke out, singers clapped in unison to the beat, and the party was on. I’m amazed people didn’t start dancing. If we in the audience had been standing as we listened, I can’t imagine any of us standing still. It all ended with a quick, earnest standing ovation: another concert full of excellence — and heart — from a unique choral organization.