On the evening of Nov. 16, 2022, the Colleges of the Fenway (COF) Choir and Orchestra shared a night of “Power, Protection, and Magic” after only 8 rehearsals.

The concert began with two songs sung by the Boston Children’s Choir. Following their performance, the COF choir, who had to give up their seats in the auditorium due to the unexpected high demand, made their way to the stage. The choir kicked off their performance with “Ngotando,” which began with a spoken text by Busang Maphosa, a Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences student in the class of 2028. 

The performance of “Fantasia on a Ukrainian Carol” put the entire audience in the holiday spirit. The conductor, Daniel Ryan, announced that the choir’s next song, “Sleigh Ride,” would be a sing along. Although, there was a noticeable lack of singing along from the audience. 

The choir’s performance concluded with “When You Believe” from the animated movie “Prince of Egypt,” accompanied by the COF orchestra. This performance showcased the vocals of five different soloists. 

The choir handed the spotlight over to the orchestra, whose performance started with Mozart’s “Overture (from The Magic Flute),” followed by Amanda Harberg’s “Prayer.” 

The orchestra concluded their performance with a medley of all eight themes from the Harry Potter movies. The Boston Children’s Choir joined in on the performance when they sang “Double Trouble.” 

The performance came to a close with a song dedicated to Brenda Martino, a first-year at Simmons and member of the COF Choir who recently passed away. Alanna Quirk-Aboujaoude and Sophia Bruetsch, both first years at Simmons and friends of Martino, gave a speech introducing the final song of the concert, “Este Les Digo,” in Martino’s honor. Quirk-Aboujaoude explained that “The song is a prayer taken from Mathew 18:19-20 and one phrase translates to ‘because where two or three are gathered in my name, there will I be also.’”

Bruetsch told the audience that “in a google form from the beginning of the semester, Brenda answered her favorite musical moment with ‘I love the silence right after finishing a song before the audience starts to applaud. The last note ringing in the air is always amazing.’” Bruetsch asked the audience to hold their applause at the end of the song and for it “not to be a moment of silence, but instead a “moment of music.” The “moment of music” lasted 30 seconds before the applause began.