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The Fall Choral Recital performed on Nov. 4 at Harbeson Hall offered a variety of crowd pleasing songs, from the Beatles to upbeat jazz renditions.

A good portion of the songs paid tribute to classic musicians such as Brahms and Mendelssohn, yet more recent and modern songs were continually interspersed throughout the program to give the audience a fair spectrum of auditory delight.

Of the four groups performing – Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Madrigals and Vocal Jazz Ensemble – each had at least one song that stood out from the rest.

The Concert Choir’s “Prelude to Peace,” conducted by Lori Rios with the piano played by Allen Andrews, was lyrically reminiscent and had a sad feel to it, like times gone by. The atmosphere took a fun and different turn with an upbeat and harmonious Kenyan folk song followed by the Beatles famous “Blackbird” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The whistling, in imitation of a bird, was a notably nice touch.

The Chamber Singers, conducted by Donald Brinegar, had fun with “My Spirit is Uncaged,” an uplifting song that had quite a few members smiling as they belted out the lyrics. The pianist, Linda Zoolalian, was intensely focused and showed off her skill with precision.

The Madrigals, also conducted by Brinegar, sung mainly the classics. The most notable part of it was the soloist for “Trois Chansons” whose voice hushed the audience and was greeted with a huge round of applause at the end.

The recital ended with the vocal jazz ensembles’ “Frim Fram Sauce” conducted by Greg Jasperse, an amusing song about food that featured the piano, trumpet and three different soloists.     

Overall, the performance was pleasing and made all the more enjoyable by the highlights that stood out from the rest.

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