From the Risers: Making My Spirit Soar

by Brian Hathaway

Normally, my “From the Risers” blog entries have been about my experience as a singer in The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay.  Often, while standing on those risers, my thoughts go to wondering what we sound like.  Countering the joy of singing with The Master Chorale is my wish to hear our ensemble as a member of the audience.  It is a wish I must hold in abeyance as I rely on the feedback of others in the audience regarding our sound.

This year, The Master Chorale has created a new ensemble, The Master Chorale Ensemble Singers.  Made up of 44 singers who are members of The Master Chorale, the Ensemble Singers are a concept whose time has come.  The intent is to offer up a smaller ensemble to further present The Master Chorale brand with a goal of supporting our mission “….sharing the joy and power of choral music with new and existing audiences and singers”.  The Ensemble Singers are particularly well suited to this part of our mission.  A smaller ensemble expands the number of venues that The Master Chorale sound can fill while demonstrating choral works that are more suited to a smaller ensemble compared to a full symphonic chorus.  There are also opportunities to expand the Chorale’s outreach to the community.  When new audiences hear the special beauty that choral singing offers, they may be attracted to other performances, such as the ones we perform with The Florida Orchestra or our Master Chorale self-produced concerts.

Master Chorale Ensemble Singers at the First Presbyterian Church, St. Petersburg - Friday, April 24, 2015

Master Chorale Ensemble Singers at the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church, Tampa - Sunday, April 26, 2015

This past weekend, I attended one of the Ensemble Singers’ inaugural concerts.  Titled “Let Your Spirit Soar," the concert offered a wide range of choral selections ranging from Thomas Tallis and William Byrd in the Elizabethan age to modern choral composers such as Eric Whitacre and Jake Runestad.  The common thread through it all was a sense of beauty defined by excellence in execution.  For once I had the opportunity to sit in the audience and drink in this incredible music performed by my Master Chorale colleagues and friends under the baton of Dr. James K. Bass, accompanied by Robert Winslow on the piano and organ.  To say I was uplifted would be an understatement!  I heard many personal favorites such as Tallis’ “If Ye Love Me” and “Lux Arumque” by Eric Whitacre.  I also heard works that were new to me.   One of them just took my breath away, an arrangement of “Bright Morning Stars” by Shawn Kirchner that I will count as one of my favorite works from this point onward.  To me the afternoon defined the expression of “time well spent," and it seemed like the hour just flew by.  To top it all off, the Ensemble Singers offered an encore, singing “Sure On This Shining Night” by the dean of American choral composers, Morten Lauridsen.

If you would like to hear The Master Chorale Ensemble Singers, I invite you to attend one of The Florida Orchestra concert presentations of “The Planets” on May 1-3.  The women of The Master Chorale will be performing with the orchestra as part of the Neptune segment.  A special treat will be the opportunity to hear the Ensemble Singers in a pre-concert one hour before the Orchestra concert.  Come one hour early and you will be able to “Let Your Spirit Soar."  Trust me, you will find it to be “time well spent”!