Performing pieces composed by the likes of Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and Johann Sebastian Bach, the New York Virtuoso Singers displayed an incredible versatility and range Tuesday night as they performed inside the acoustic walls of Slee Hall.
Harold Rosenbaum, artistic director and founder of the 17-year-old NYVS, conducted the group and the Slee Sinfionetta as they accompanied the singers in the second portion of the show.
In addition to directing the student choirs and teaching conductors and students, Rosenbaum is constantly in NYC and travels the world with his groups of singers.
The entire performance went off without a hitch, as the NYVS seemed to hit every note just right.
David Felder, professor of composition, who also serves as Artistic Director of the Slee Sinfionetta, composed the second piece of the night, "Memento Mori."
The piece began with the powerful bass section of the chorus, and continued with somber, deep tones, as if dark spirits were battling inside Slee Hall.
After the concert, Rosenbaum commented on the music and text of Felder's piece.
"It includes the themes of Mahler the most, the struggle between life on Earth and the hereafter, and what's to come," he said. "The spiritual element. It's a very profound and beautiful text."
After the piece was performed, Felder came onstage to take a bow and thank the NYVS for such a wonderful rendition of his piece.
For the third piece of the night, "Lauds" by Jonathan Harvey, UB Assistant Professor of Music Jonathan Golove accompanied the chorus with his beautifully abstract performance on the cello.
Harvey's piece continued the dark sentiment of Felder's, as Golove painted the text with the intangible plucking and running tremolos of his cello.
The program then took a lighter turn, as the chorus sung groovy versions of "I Got Rhythm" by George Gershwin, "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" by Porter and "It Don't Mean a Thing" by Ellington.
Soprano Gayla Morgan took charge of Gershwin's number, hitting every high note. Stephen Manes, a member of the Baird Piano Trio in residence at UB, provided some of the swing on the keys for Ellington's jumping jazz tune.
When it seemed the group couldn't show any more flexibility of styles, they beautifully vocalized three traditional Negro spirituals and finished off the show with one of Bach's famous cantatas.
A couple members of the NYVS spoke after the performance about the group's dynamics and how their performance went.
"It was more fun, more enthusiastic, more people, and it was just more," said soprano Mary Marathe, comparing the night to another recent performance of the same program in NYC. "The program really shows the versatility of the group."
Marathe's husband, Mukund, a tenor in the chorus, described the evening as "one of those nights where everything just clicked. Harold started the group to do a lot of contemporary music, and that's the focus of the group."
After the concert it was apparent that conductor Rosenbaum was very pleased with the performance.
"Everything went well for a number of reasons," he said. "The singers were well rested, they love the music, the hall was beautiful acoustically and the orchestra was phenomenal.
"We've never done quite that mixed a program in one concert, not that range," he said. "We've done concerts with Renaissance and Baroque, but never the different styles and complexities we did tonight."
Rosenbaum, who in his travels has conducted over 1,200 concerts with his two professional groups, went on to compare Slee Hall to New York City's most famous concert hall.
"Slee Hall is phenomenal," he said. "Aside from Carnegie Hall, it is better than any hall in New York City."
