MHCC CHOIRS SING THEIR LAST SONG

With the end of the school year approaching, Mt. Hood’s performing arts students have a couple more events dedicated to showing off their hard work this past term.

The MHCC Symphonic and Chamber choirs will sing at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 7, in the College Theatre. Admission is free for anyone who wishes to see these choirs perform some beautiful, harmonious music.

Aside from learning and rehearsing notes, rhythm, and phrasing, another impressive detail about singing some choral music is that there is so much material written in non-English languages. When learning a new song in another language, singers have to learn how certain words are properly pronounced, so that they can adjust their tone and diction accordingly.

For this week’s concert, the two choirs will be singing three Hungarian folk songs and one song in French.

Joshua Rummell is a member of both choirs at Mt. Hood, participating in Symphonic choir for his second term and Chamber choir for his first term. He said that both choirs are singing some really cool songs for this concert, but there’s one in particular that he has grown fond of: “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning,” which has deep gospel and blues roots.

Rummell said, “It’s a very strong song. In some parts it’s intense, and some soft and pretty. I like all the songs, but I enjoy singing that one the most.”

Each choir has a wide range of how long students have been a part of the program. They include performers who have sung for Mt. Hood for a couple years, and others who are brand new. “It’s all a new experience for them and as far as I know they enjoy it a lot like I did last term,” said Rummell.

With the year drawing to a close, there are members who will be moving on after this Spring concert. But it seems that there are plenty of others planning on sticking around once Fall Term rolls around. Rummell said he hopes the choirs keep their existing students and continue to add more.

Before then, there is still one more performance to rehearse, and Rummell said he thinks both choirs will be singing with confidence.

“People are preparing for the concert with little worry about how it’s going to go. I personally think it’s going to sound pretty great.”

Advocate Staff