The Colleges of the Fenway (COF) Chorus and Orchestra graced the stage of Watson Hall once again on March 27, 2024 with their annual spring concert, “This Land: Native Roots and Immigrant Dreams.”
The chorus kicked off the concert with a performance of “The Innocence” from “Considering Matthew Shepard.” Conducted by Sam Bruetsch, a student at Simmons University and assistant conductor of the COF Chorus, this piece displayed the talent of four different soloists.
Following the opening song, Bruetsch welcomed the audience. He went on to explain that “Considering Matthew Shepard” was written in response to the death of Matthew Shepard, who was a gay college student in Wyoming who lost his life to a hate crime at the age of 21.
Bruetsch was then joined by Alanna Quirk-Aboujaoude*, a member of the COF Chorus’ e-board, to take a moment to remember Brenda Hanson-Martino, a member of the chorus who passed away in Fall of 2023. Bruetsch and Quirk-Aboujaoude will be walking the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Overnight Walk this June in honor of Hanson-Martino.
Bruetsch and Quirk-Aboujaoude joined the rest of the chorus on stage to perform “Measure Me, Sky.” This song allowed for each section of the chorus to shine, showing the wide range of talent in the chorus.
The COF Chorus and Orchestra’s conductor announced “Earth Song” and “Famine Song,” asking for the audience to hold their applause until the end of both songs, as they were both written by Frank Tichelli. This allowed the chorus to showcase their talent without any interruptions.
“Would You Harbor Me?” harked on the concert’s theme. The song asks if the audience would “harbor” people of different identities, essentially asking to take people in and help them when needed. This piece was tied into the next song, “Precious Lord,” which begins with “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand.”
After a brief intermission, the orchestra took their seats. Their performance of “Creation” featured two clarinet soloists and a flute soloist, adding to the whimsical sound of the piece. As the song goes on, the instrumentals begin to build, making for a fun sound that the audience seemed to enjoy. The concert continued with a performance with “Largo” from New World Symphony, with an oboe and a violin solo.
The Orchestra ended their portion of the concert with “Mambo” from West Side Story. This was a perfect song to end their performance with, as it was very upbeat and exciting. It brought energy into the audience and reeled their attention back in after some long pieces.
The final song of the night featured both the COF Chorus and Orchestra, coming together to perform “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor.” Seeing the chorus and orchestra come together to perform provided a great conclusion to the night.
*Alanna Quirk-Aboujaoude is a member of the Voice editorial team. As per our Code of Ethics, Quirk-Aboujaoude was not involved with the editing or publishing process of this piece.
