Music From Around the World - SLCA Summer Choral Institute

One of the great things about the Salt Lake Choral Artists' mission is their reach out to the community. Every summer the organization presents four concerts in which they invite all members of the community to come and sing, regardless of experience or expertise. Anyone can join the weekend-long sessions (no audition required whatsoever) and all have the opportunity to work with world-renowned conductor Dr. Brady Allred. Over the course of only a few days and a few rehearsals, the group works together to create a concert that ends up rivaling the quality of many local auditioned groups.

Allred working with members of the SCI choir and the UST Singers.

On Saturday, July 12, Allred and his Summer Choral Institute (SCI) presented "Music from Around the World," a concert featuring music from Australia, Russia, Cameroon, Argentina, USA, Canada and more at the First Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. One could feel the energy in the air as the amateurs (and I use that word in its purest sense: as 'a lover of') gathered to create music together. Opening with an exciting piece from Cameroon the choir set the mood off excellently. The highlight of the first half of the concert was an exciting rendition of "Shchedryk," a Ukrainian folksong more well-known as "Carol of the Bells." Sung in Russian, this interpretation was charming and exciting. The choir sang it twice, once at a medium tempo, and once much faster. Though tripping over the consonants a bit, it was worth it for both the excitement of the piece and the pure joy of seeing these people sing together.

Joining the SCI choir were special guests the University of Santo Tomas Singers from the Philippines. They sang the first half of the concert as a part of the SCI choir, and finished the second half of the concert by themselves. The UST choir is truly a remarkable group with extensive credentials and competition wins under their belt. I will refrain from giving a complete review of their half of the concert here because they performed an entire concert the next evening which I will review in complete. Let it be said however that this is a phenomenal group and it was a huge privilege to have there here in Salt Lake City.

There is one more opportunity to see or participate in the Salt Lake Choral Artists Summer Choral Institute and I hope you take the opportunity to see this organization at work! The SLCA also holds a Children's Choir Camp and a High School Retreat, the latter of which hundreds of students attend from various high schools and I have first-hand knowledge of what a valuable experience each student walks away with.