The Whole World Sings...A Concert from the Pacific Rim

By PIERRE KENYON
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

What a spectacle! What a gaggle of howling kids!

A joyful bunch of singers from two local elementary schools were in the audience before they sang along with members of the Pueblo Children's Chorale in "The Whole World Sings: A Concert from the Pacific Rim" Tuesday night at Hoag Hall on the campus of Colorado State University-Pueblo. It was a big event; 200 performing singers in all with a full-capacity audience of more than 600.

Since there was a dearth of program notes, I presumed that most of the songs performed were Asian in origin. All are to be commended for taking on such a challenging program.

There was also a tie-in with the Pueblo Big Read program, with readers all over the county enjoying "The Joy Luck Club," by Amy Tan.

Harriet Warren, directing the South Mesa Elementary School choir, started the program off with a Chinese (theme) song, "Gung Hay Fat Choy," accompanied by 12 students wielding Orff instruments. This was a charming piece. Michele McCown then directed 95 students in the choir from Cedar Ridge Elementary School in a performance of "Moon at the Ruined Castle," with a Japanese theme. This was another charming piece sung with considerable precision.

Their second piece came from New Zealand, sung in the Maori language and accompanied by piano and two flutes. The group performed well, mostly in unison, though the harmonies were impressive as were the dynamics.

Betsy Barto then directed the Apprentice Choir, the younger singers of the Pueblo Children's Chorale, in a Chinese folk song, "Crescent Moon," followed by "Tiki Chant" with interesting gesticulations. Rachel Young, one of the singers, performed an impromptu dance. I sat next to her proud mother.

Jennifer Shadle-Peters then directed the Concert Choir in a Japanese children's song which was short and sweet and well executed, followed then by two more Japanese songs and a Korean folk song. I particularly enjoyed the lively Japanese "Village Festival" song. Their final piece was the Korean folk song, "Ahrirang," a challenging three-chorus composition which was performed well.

The grand finale with all 200 singers on stage singing a Chinese and a Japanese folk song was quite a spectacle. Directing this wonderful group was a logistical feat as well as a musical one. Directors Shadle-Peters and Barto and the kids were really impressive.