Written By: Miles Watts, Staff Writer
CHALLENGING: The advanced choir ensembles from all five Riverside public high schools congregated to rehearse and perform in the annual Masterwork performance.
All the high school chamber singers from Poly, North, King, and Arlington congregated at Ramona’s theater where they met their advanced choral group. They were all missing school that day to rehearse together for a piece they worked on individually and in their respective classrooms: Schubert’s Mass in G. “[Masterwork] shows me how to work with people that I’m not quite familiar with [such as] with different directors and different ways of teaching” remarks Noemi Quezada (12), an alto in Poly’s choir. With a long day of learning ahead of them, with the terminus being a concert where they performed this suite and their repertoire, the singers sat in the audience seats in anticipation for the day to commence.
The day began with the tenors and basses in the choir room and sopranos and altos staying in the theater for an hour of sectionals. They all worked and sang through the Mass as they awaited their director, Dr. Golding, to arrive. He recently moved from Tennessee to California, taking a job at CBU, and was invited to lead the Mass. A very lively and expressive person, he was able to help them “[understanding] the music with the visualization of what [they] were singing” as Marcus Lucas (11), a tenor in Poly’s choir, puts it. After an hour, the basses and tenors returned to the theater and sat down where they originally were. Dr. Golding arrived and they began singing after a brief introduction. They began with warmups, such as singing in canon on a major scale, all the while he critiqued and gave recommendations to produce a better sound. After, they jumped right into rehearsing the Mass.
From about 10:30 to 12:30, they went over specific parts of each movement, especially the longest movement, Credo, and refined them. Dr. Golding also added dynamics and breath marks to enhance the music. Passionate and energetic, he captured the attention of all the young singers as his love for music was captivating. After a long morning block, and singing through the whole Mass, it was time for lunch. School lunches and snacks from previous breaks were offered, although many people brought their food. Auditions for the Kyrie, Gloria, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei (the first, second, fifth, and sixth movements respectively) were held at 1:00 pm, and they lasted until 2:00 which was half over the intended time it would take. Rehearsal continued as it had before lunch. Despite being tired from the long day of practice, the singers pushed through the rehearsal until their next break, and when they returned they were all going to stand on the risers and run it.
After their small break, everyone got on the risers and rehearsal continued with everyone standing. Dr. Golding announced who got the solos for the movements except for the one in the Kyrie. They could not decide between the four sopranos who auditioned for it as they were all excellent, and so each had to sing a portion of the solo for the final decision to be made. Once they all finished, the choir teachers and Dr. Golding huddled together and ultimately decided that Tiffany Chan from North would sing it. After more rehearsing commenced, and after many reps, another full run of the Mass, and a quick rehearsal of another combined song traditionally sung at the concert, “In Meeting We are Blessed;” each section got off the stage in height order, with the tallest being at the front of the line. After stepping onto the risers again in order and everyone familiarizing themselves with where they were, the students sat back in the house in their respective schools. Each school in order returned to the risers for a quick rehearsal of their songs led by their teacher. It was around 5:30 when they were dismissed for dinner. It was also the time to get dressed in their concert black before they had to be back in their seats at 6:45.
The theater doors opened at 6:30 for people to find a seat. Familiar faces of family members and friends were met with smiles from their musicians as more and more people entered the theater. A sense of liveliness and excitement grew as more audience members filed in and as the beginning of the concert drew closer. At 7:00, the Poly choir director, Ms. Walton walked onto the stage along with the choir presidents from each school to introduce and begin the performance. King was up first and they sang a challenging French piece, “Dieu! Qu’il La Fait Bon Regarder!”, by Claude Debussy, and “Rosas Pandan” by George L. Hernandez directed by Daniel Alvarez. North followed after and, led by their director Janie Hilland, they sang “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” arranged by Audrey Snyder with soloist Malina Rodriguez and “Muhona” by Cedric Howoseb with soloists Malina Rodriguez, Bridgette Gibbs Clark, and Keon McKnight. Arlington was up next, and they sang “Ave Verum Corpus” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and “I Want to Be the Sun” by Mark Burrows, directed by Tyler Hays and with collaborative pianist Kaylee Tong. Ramona was up after Arlington and, directed by Sarah Guardado, they sang a 13th-century chant, “Dies Irae”, arranged by Michael John Trotta, and “Muusika” by Juhan Liiv and arranged by Part Uusberg. Finally, before the Mass, Poly was up on stage. Directed by Kristen Walton and with collaborative pianist Darren Yohonn, they sang “Can We Sing the Darkness to Light?” by Kyle Pederson and “Il Lampo” by Ryan Main. After the final applause for Poly, a brief intermission was held for all choirs to stand on the risers for their final performance.
Once the audience returned to their seats, Ms. Walton introduced Dr. Golding and they promptly began singing the Mass. As aforementioned, Tiffany Chan sang the soprano solo in the Kyrie. In the Gloria, the second movement, Estella Naegle from King sang the soprano solo and Max Strong from Poly sang the bass solo, and the trio in the Benedictus, the fifth movement, included Kayla McCarty from Ramona on Soprano, Jacob Ramirez from Arlington on tenor, and Danny Nelson from Arlington on bass. The third and fourth movements, the Credo and Sanctus, do not have a solo but the last movement, Agnus Dei, does. The soprano solo was sung by Julia Landry from King, and the bass solo was sung by Chris Johnsen from Poly. After the 25-minute-long suite, Dr. Golding introduces himself to the audience and explains his newfound love for Southern California after moving from Tennessee to teach music. He also shows his gratitude for all the students’ parents, the other choir directors, and their pianist, Darren Yohonn. He then turns back to the choir after announcing their last piece, “In Meeting We Are Blessed” by Troy D. Robertson, to conduct it. Once the song concludes, the singers are met with a large applause from the audience and the house lights slowly turn back on. The students leave the risers and head to their families, where they are undoubtedly greeted with plenty of praise. “It was tiring of course, but we got through it, improved the Mass that we sang, and overall was worth it,” Kayla Sturgis (11) says, an alto in the choir. It was a long day for all that were involved, but a worthwhile and fun one, as musicianship and friendship alike strengthened tremendously throughout the event.