Tuneful

It’s true that our Los Padres hills are usually so alive with the sound of music that they downright reverberate. East End neighbors wonder: Cosmic hum? Or Thacher kids making more music?

In recent days, lots of the latter, both here and beyond.

“Beyond” was a Choral Festival in Santa Barbara, hosted by Westmont College at two different churches in the fair coastal city—Trinity Episcopal and First United Methodist—and attended by singing ensembles from several Southern California schools. Thacher’s Chamber Singers was the lead-off group on the roster, performing an arrangement of Shenandoah, Elgar’s As Torrents in Summer, and Muie Rendera - a traditional Brazilian piece (that, according to our sources, brought the house down). In addition to performances by the other high schools groups, the day included concerts by the professional Quire of Voices, the Westmont Men’s Chorale, the Westmont College Choir, and the Westmont Chamber Singers. In the afternoon, students participated in clinics offered by Westmont’s director of music, Rebecca Leftwich.

After dinner in a nearby park, where an impromptu “sing-off” took flight (our own Scott Lee couldn’t resist jumping in), there were group warm-ups and the culminating event: the performance of two massed choir pieces, Henry Purcell’s If Music Be the Food of Love and Michael Eglin’s Barter, set to text by Sara Teasdale. Said Thacher’s Music Director Greg Haggard of the latter, “Hundreds of voices in a stunningly beautiful piece conducted by the composer himself—an extra treat!”

Sarae Snyder ‘10, a two-year veteran of Chamber Singers, nods in agreement: “It was really moving to be able to sing with all of the other choirs, especially with Mr. Eglin directing us. He said that he had written it in honor of his sister after she passed away from cancer, and it was so incredible to be singing it there in a church full of singers. We all came together, and it sounded really beautiful.” Sophomore Eva Batalla-Mann called that part of the experience “overwhelmingly wonderful,” going on to say that “the clinic was really helpful because we were able to look at these pieces we had been working on for quite a while now with a new perspective, which kept us engaged and excited about the music. It got us [off-campus] to learn more about choral music and share what we have all been working so hard at.”

In the evening’s final concert, Thacher reprised Muie Rendera. “The response from the other choirs and the Westmont music directors was overwhelmingly enthusiastic,” smiled Greg. “Our students really rose to the occasion!” We’re not just talking risers.

Closer to home, at a downtown plaza in Ojai, Thacher’s (TS)2 +G—an ensemble comprised of vocalists Trudy Park ’10, Sam Meyer ’10, Scott Lee ’11 and Grace Lowe ’11, and guitarist-vocalist Teresa Findley ’10 (and that day, guest singer Taryn Van Vliet ‘10)—sang and played, as part of an autumn afternoon of music for townsfolk and tourists to sample.

On campus, the Music Guild is thriving. Greg defines the organization as "a place for music students of all abilities to come together to perform for each other, gaining feedback and experience, and at times, to perform before the Thacher community at large.  It's designed to encourage playing and singing music, sharing the love and joy that comes from  making music together and building a community of musicians." Recent gatherings of the Guild have been up and running every weekend, in the Commons, the Music Room and on the Pergola. The Chorus has been rehearsing thrice weekly; and all variety of musicians are readying for the first big Coffee House of the year.

No end to the talent!

Next up: more news of Thacher’s instrumental groups. Stay tuned. (And a chuckle joins the harmony.)