FSC Chorus brings early holiday cheer with concert

By Tom O’Brien
Assistant Arts & Features Editor

The Framingham State College Chorus performed a holiday concert On Tuesday, Dec. 8 in the Heineman Ecumenical and Cultural Center. The show, titled "A John Rutter Christmas" featured several songs from the composer John Rutter, as well as several other holiday tunes.

The night performance was the group's second show in their holiday concert series. The group will be performing at the First Church in Boston on Dec. 15 to close out the chorus’ fall semester work.

Mark Evans, arts and humanities program administrator, said, “Until now, I was not in the Christmas spirit. Yesterday’s rehearsal has successfully changed that."

The group’s director, Paul Cienniwa, is a renowned choral director and soloist who has done work at Yale, MIT, Harvard and Depaul universities and with numerous ensembles. In addition to leading The FSC Chorus, he is director of Sine Nomine choral ensemble and Music Director at First Church in Boston.

Accompanying the choir on piano was Jane Raithel, who has been the accompanist at Framingham State since 1999. Along with being the Co-Director of Christian Education at the Pilgrim Church in Sherborn, she is a music director for several Mass. public school theatrical programs.

A special guest appearance and performance was made by harpist Barbara Poeschl-Edrich, who has played in concerts with most major Boston orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony, Boston Baroque and Handel & Hayden Society. She is also on the faculty at Boston University.

The FSC chorus took the stage with a subdued confidence that foreshadowed their strong performance. Dressed in black and cued by the staff of Cienniwa, the group opened the show with the holiday classic "Christmas Time is Here" by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi. This catchy number set a festive tone for the briefing of the concert.

Opened by a cheery piano melody, this song was an early showcase of the group's harmony and talent. Trade-offs among different voice types created a depth to the music that could only be described as orchestral - and very well done. Management of several key changes in the song indicated the group’s true grasp of the music, as well as the ability of both the accompaniment and director.

The first song closed with a slowing of the tempo and the repeating of the title phrase, "Christmas time is here/Christmas time is here."

The group then performed a surprisingly unique rendition of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Eddie Pola and George Wyle. While Raithel's piano playing was particularly strong in this bubbly holiday tune, dynamic vocals from all sections made it a hit with the audience - some of whom could not help but sing along.

Following the two performances of traditional Christmas songs, the group performed "Mi Y'Maleil, A customary Hanukkah song arranged by J. Flummerfelt. The melody's quality in this song was a refreshing change from the happy-go-lucky major/minor feel of traditional Christmas songs. With a background of softer piano, the vocal foreground of this tune particularly stood out, creating an environment conducive to hearing the tonal color and even timbre of each of the choir members' voices.

This rendition transitioned nicely to another poppy song. This time it was Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime." Featuring a well-constructed exchange of singing coordinated between male and female voices, this song showed the beauty of supplanting one person's voice with that of a collective voice. Much like the way a 12-string guitar overpowers a 6-string, the FSC chorus' vocal melody was full-figured with thirds and fifths, in comparison to McCartney's original single vocal track. Synthesizer melody was also supplanted by a background of “oh’s” and “ah’s” from the tenor and bass section of the group.

Poeschl-Edrich was the first of the night to perform a song composed by John Rutter - in the form of a harp solo. Her version of "Chanson de Mai" split the show and gave the chorus a moment to "relax," as Cienniwa put it.

He added, "He [John Rutter] is a composer who is very loved in the choral world. He's written many important works."

Rutter is renowned for not only his composition of songs, but also his arrangement of choral renditions.

The playing style and tonal quality of the harp created an interesting juxtaposition to the chorus' voices. With a very full harmonious sound, the harpist's performance almost mirrored the singing of the choir. Long arpeggiated chords (chords played note by note,) drew listeners down several different paths before resolving with the booming full harp strum that is so well known of the instrument. Her playing was stunning.

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