Dare to Breathe Concert
Sunday, March 25th, 2001

Vocal music is one of the oldest and most universal art forms. I am always amazed at the beauty and power of a human voice, unaccompanied by any other instruments.

In the final concert of the SJA 200-2001 Concert Series Dare to Breathe, an eclectic a cappella group (web page: www.daretobreathe.com) presented a varied selection of music from many ages and many places. Mark Dietrich announced at the beginning of the concert that since the seasons "don't seem to be turning on their own" that the group would sing through the seasons for us.

A song about Christmas, Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow was accompanied by Greg Stern on the bodhran, a simple and very old type of drum. The Bells was an extremely bell-like musical version of the Edgar Allen Poe work. A traditional English song, The Snow It Melts the Soonest, also showcased the beautiful voices sounding like chimes.

Mere au Sauveour a 13th century French piece about the mother of Jesus was combined with spoken words from Starhawk, a contemporary pagan writer. Accompanied with small cymbals and a drum, the voice of Linda Kachelmeier was beautiful and haunting - you could imagine this work being performed in a candlelit church or an ancient cave. The Haitian Noel began with tongue clicking sound effects and wove ribbons of bright lively sound. The words said that if Christ had been born in Haiti he would have been welcomed with a celebration. The Calypso influence extended through the next pieces Turn the World Around by Harry Belafonte and Congori Shango, a Costa Rican melody. We were asked to imagine the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean on the warmest most perfect day.

Rain a song by the Beatles arranged in a melodic chanting fashion, and Inch Worm, a lullaby in which the notes hung in the air like struck crystal were included as tokens of impending Spring. A madrigal, we were informed by singer Jason Sramek, was a high society gift in the late Renaissance. These tunes were often composed as an offering from a high born man to his lady and sung as a token of love. Fair Phyllis and Hark, All Ye Lovely Saints Above were both examples of this musical form, complete with a lot of fa-la-las.

After an intermission which included wine, cheese, fruit and conversation, the ensemble stomped back on stage as a group of disgruntled children to perform the amusing and very complicated The Book Report from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The singers all lamented the pressure of having to produce a 100-word book report on Peter Rabbit in only 3 days. Anyone who has been a child and dreaded homework could laugh at this fast paced number, punctuated with a whiz-bang whistle. Finger snapping and a rattle accompanied Blue Bayou, a dreamy number familiar to many of us from the radios of our somewhat distant youth.

David Moore introduced the next songs by explaining they were about the stages of love. Searching for Lambs a traditional English song about spying a maiden one May morning was about the first blush of love. Cruda Amarilli, sung in Italian, is about a miserable spurned lover who declares to his cruel girlfriend “Since even to speak I offend thee, I shall die in silence”. Kathy Lee introduced the next song, a comical ditty about settling down in married bliss, as “the longest word we have sung together”: Gilly-Gilly-Ossenfeffer-Katzenellen-Bogen-by-the-Sea.

The Unicorn, comparing this mythical beast to Christ, had a beautiful melody, supported by the various singers “mouth percussion”. Chant for Clear Water a song with only la-la-la as words sounds like Spring, the ice melting and the water running slowly and then gathering speed and power as it rushes to a more calm and peaceful conclusion - maybe one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, or perhaps the giant puddle near your bus stop?

The word gamelan means "to hammer," but the term refers to the large percussion orchestras of Java and Bali. All the music is marked by the use of one of two non-tempered pentatonic scales. In the piece Gamelan, the instruments were voices, singing each of the 5 tones as a unique syllable, the resulting sound was like bells.

The senoritas in the group sang Dormite, Ninito a traditional El Salvadoran lullaby, with the hombres providing the sounds of an “air mariachi” band. The finale, Dream a Little Dream of Me, a jazzy swing piece, proved that not only were David, Jason, Mark, Kathy and Linda good singers, some of them were great whistlers also.

Gail Garvey was offered a job transfer four years ago that started out "How do you like cold winters?" She has had to wait until this winter to find out! Gail lives in South Minneapolis with her partner Gary and her 16 year old son, Lewis. Her grown up kids - Ellen, Charlie, Elizabeth and son-in-law Patrick are back home in Indiana. Gail graduated from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN many years ago and more recently acquired a computer science degree. When she is not solving computer problems at her job she loves to read, walk around the lakes, camp and fish in Northern Minnesota, knit, sew, cook and take naps.

As an encore the group sang a song from the world music group Osibisa called Woyaya and encouraged the audience to participate. The energy, talent and versatility of this group will be hard to forget. If there is anyone who has not attended at least one of St. Joan’s Concerts they are missing some of the best entertainment in town. Make a point of buying tickets next year; you will be glad you did.

Vickie Hepler has been involved with the Sister Parish group since its inception in 1993 and traveled with the first delegation to visit TNII in the spring of 95. She joined the SJA choir in 98 and has enjoyed two years of bringing song and music to her heart. Vickie also cherishes her involvement in a SCC that's about four years old.