savannah sings!

Tonight, I was treated to a concert!
It was also my first event
this year
as a volunteer usher
at the beautiful Lucas Theatre.
How very nice to see familiar faces
and to find that
my official name badge had arrived!


Now, about this concert. Savannah Sings 2015: Savannah's Invitational Youth Choir Festival was a free event, with donations to benefit Savannah Friends of Music. After I read about the festival last week, and saw that my friend John Tisbert was involved, I was so glad that I had elected to volunteer tonight. I hadn't seen Tis in ages, it seemed!
As well as being a well-renowned choir director and music teacher, he's also a mighty fine trumpet player. It was good to hear his students calling him Tis, too! (Several years ago, I was the first to do so.)
His lovely wife Ruth was there, too! Bonus!
The music was fabulous, and so diverse!
There were eleven choral groups present, representing elementary students, middle-schoolers, high school teens, and college undergraduates. Most were local (Savannah Country Day School Chorus, Oglethorpe Charter School Chorus, Windsor Forest High School Troubadours, Islands High School Mixed Choir, Sol C. Johnson High School Women's Ensemble, Garrison Arts Women's Choir, and Savannah Arts Academy Skylarks), but there was one out-of-town high school (Southeast Bulloch High School Advanced Chorus).
The only college group was from Statesboro (Georgia Southern Chorale, including the Southern Gentlemen barbershop-style singers).
That makes nine out of eleven (for those keeping count). The other two choirs were composed of students from several schools. The Savannah Children's Choir, which I had heard just last month, featured its Primary Choir for this show. Very nice! The final group, of both this list and of the performers tonight, was the Savannah Sings 2015! Men's Festival Chorus, composed of 100 young men.
Whew!
While I did enjoy all of the music, there were certain songs I will welcome the opportunity to hear again.
"Ave Maria", by the Southeast Bulloch High School Advanced Chorus, was incredible. (Click the link and advance to 4:15.)
They had altered the phrasing of the composition, creating something at once new and familiar. It brought to mind the rendition of "Amazing Grace" by the Blind Boys of Alabama, sung to the tune of "The House of The Rising Sun". Like that hymn, the song by these high school students was deeply moving. I can certainly understand why they are going to Carnegie Hall! Bravo!
The Georgia Southern Chorale proved, unequivocably, that even a children's song can be made fresh. "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" was shown to be quite valid for adults!
(My apologies - neither of the links here are for their version of that song, but both are still worth a listen, if you care to do so.)
The sweetest part? All the ladies exited stage left, allowing the harmonies of the all-male Southern Gentlemen to shine through. And shine they did, presenting a fabulous version of "Sweetpea"! Go ahead and listen! You might want to share it with your Nana or Grammy, too!
The next highlight for me was the Four On The Floor quartet representing the Windsor Forest High School Troubadours - ooh la la! Such great fun! Good pipes and good moves! Their medley of upbeat oldies, with some newer bits sprinkled in, had my toes tappin' and my fingers snappin'!
(smile!)
For sheer energy, those girls with the Garrison Arts Women's Choir couldn't be beat! Sure, I may be unduly biased, as they are Tis' kids, but you should have seen them! This video of "Walk In Jerusalem" isn't theirs, because if it were, you would see one-third of the choir start dancing, followed by the next third, and then the last third - quite inspirational! Tis was so happy that he was grinning from ear to ear!!!
The Men's Festival Chorus, though, introduced me to a new favorite song: "Lightning". Full of silences and crescendos, their voices rose and fell with the storm... superb!
I left with my step light and my heart gladdened!