Northwest Choirs Spring Concert set for April 4

by Sarah Smith

Northwest Mississippi Community College’s performance choirs will present their spring concert April 4 at 7 p.m. in the Heindl Center for the Performing Arts. The three choral groups that will be performing are the Ranger Chorale, Ranger Consort, and the Northwest Singers.

“The Northwest Singers will be performing Beethoven, Ranger Chorale is performing Hindemith Chansons in French, and Ranger Consort is singing five-part Gesualdo, amongst many other interesting works,” said Director of Choral Activities, Alex Belohlavek. “In total, we have pieces in English, French, Latin, and German, from over 600 years of music history.”

The choir concert is a semester-long preparation process of developing skills and techniques, and preparing the repertoire for these performances. Much of this practice is also a collaborative experience with other educators such as Carolyn Wert, a French teacher from Pennsylvania, to learn the French diction for the Hindemith Chansons.

The Ranger Consort is a small ensemble focused on chamber music. It gives student musicians the independence to experience collaborative music. They perform without a conductor and rely on “advanced musicianship and performance skills,” according to Belohlavek.

All three of the performing groups have formed a sense of camaraderie, working together to bring out the resounding notes of the music that they’ll perform.

“All of our ensembles rehearse in an energetic, fast-paced environment, and we laugh at ourselves frequently in the process,” Belohlavek said. “Sometimes the ensemble is laughing at me instead of with me, as I’m known to plunk out wrong notes on the piano or deliver a quirky quote from time to time.”

Belohlavek said that he hopes everyone in the community will come out and says that the energy of the singers, variety of music, and beautiful auditorium would be a wonderful way to spend a spring evening. Admission to the concert is free.

If you’d like to learn more about Northwest Choirs or Fine Arts, visit https://www.northwestms.edu/programs/academic/fine-arts-department