Kalamazoo Choral Arts opened its 80th season with “Rise Up,” a concert featuring Straight No Chaser’s Jerome Collins.
The program explores what the organization describes as the global songbook, with themes of revolution, resiliency and resistance movements. Kalamazoo Choral Arts presented the evening with special guests Jerome Collins and the Kalamazoo College Singers.
What the program covered
Throughout the concert, the performers introduced each piece with the story and theme behind it. The music drew on songs from several countries and traditions, including:
- A song written after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, and a newer American song about bodily autonomy, which the performers presented as connected pieces
- A participation piece based on a “seven generations” concept from Indigenous peoples east of Ohio, as the performers introduced it, which invited the audience to consider what they would do for the well-being of younger generations
- A Haitian song from the Kalamazoo College Singers
- A choral setting of a Wendell Berry poem, introduced with a short group breathing exercise built around the idea of rest as resilience
- An anthem written by a composer who held a residency with Choral Arts and the College Singers
The performers also encouraged the audience to react however they felt moved to during the evening.
Special guests
Jerome Collins is a founding member of Straight No Chaser, the a cappella group that began at Indiana University. In his introduction, the evening’s conductor said he and Collins were undergraduates together at Indiana University. Collins performed several solo numbers with a band and joined the full ensemble for a closing piece.
The Kalamazoo College Singers are an ensemble of Kalamazoo College undergraduates from all majors and class years. They performed their own selections and joined the Choral Arts chorus, along with several alumni of the group who came up to sing one number.
About Kalamazoo Choral Arts
Kalamazoo Choral Arts was founded in 1946 and presents choral music in Kalamazoo County and Southwest Michigan. Its work is directed by Dr. Christopher Ludwa of Kalamazoo College. Its stated mission is to create, enrich and transform community through singing.
Watch the full performance, part of PMN’s In Performance: Performing Arts Showcase series.
