Singing Hoosiers hold spring concert

Saturday night was an unexpected step-touch down memory lane, as the IU Singing Hoosiers, under the direction of Michael Schwartzkopf, presented their 57th annual Spring Concert. From the first notes of “Another Openin’, Another Show,” belted in classic Broadway-style by sophomore Jami Leonard, to the final chord of “Lazy River,” the concert was a celebration of American popular song by the University’s most traveled musical ensemble.\nThe Singing Hoosiers are an odd beast. Billed as a “collegiate concert show choir,” they suffer from a sort of artistic identity crisis. Specifically, how best to transfer the show choir – by most accounts a high school phenomenon intended to make up for inadequate musical theater programs – to the world of college-level music-making? I myself was a Singing Hoosier for 2 1/2 years, and my time there left me with very strong convictions as to the strengths and limitations of the group.\nThe unique challenge for an ensemble such as the Singing Hoosiers is the versatility it demands. Programs often include everything from Broadway company numbers to African spirituals to the unforgettable tunes of Hoosier natives Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael. The question the Singing Hoosiers must labor to answer with a definitive “yes” is whether or not they have the skill and flexibility to meet the needs of these disparate performing styles and still create a coherent sound.\nThe Singing Hoosiers came closer to that “yes” Saturday night than they have in my whole time in Bloomington. Many of the problems I remember remain – several songs, such as “On Broadway,” are taken at unmusically fast tempos. Songs of longing and desire, like Cole Porter’s wistful “Begin the Beguine,” are sung chastely, as if by a chorus of virgins. \nBut what the choir has gained this year, in the long run, is far more important. The ensemble has achieved the strongest ensemble sound they have had in some years. Its performance of Moses Hogan’s “Elijah Rock,” under the direction of graduate assistant Ryan Endris, exhibited both precision and discipline, not to mention high notes sung by sopranos who can actually produce them. The choral arrangement of Adam Guettel’s “The Light in the Piazza” was performed with great sensitivity. Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of “Shenandoah” revealed an ensemble finally capable of well-produced, well-balanced choral singing.\nLike another infamous former Singing Hoosier, it has taken me a couple of extra years to finish my degree, and I found myself watching the Singing Hoosiers’ current seniors, remembering, like a proud father, some of their earliest moments here at IU.\nRick Desloge, for example, gave arguably the strongest vocal performance of his college career with Stephen Schwartz’s soaring ballad “On the Wings of a Swan.” I hearkened back to how hard he worked in his first leading role at IU, as Brad in “The Rocky Horror Show,” three years ago. \nAnd then there was the adorable Angie Perez with a precious rendition of Flaherty and Ahrens’ “Times Like This,” who two years ago was equally incredible as Squeaky Fromme in a production of Steven Sondheim’s “Assassins” that I music-directed.\nAnd let us not forget Matt Christensen, who, with his suave and debonair styling of Jacques Prévert’s “Autumn Leaves,” had both straight women and gay men melting in their seats, just as he had as a freshman at his Singing Hoosiers audition.\nCosta Chamat has long been Singing Hoosiers’ most ardent jazz proponent, and he gave a long-awaited solo performance in Louis Armstrong’s “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.” His voice, always mellow and smooth-edged, has found focus over the last four years and gives him a weighed maturity he once lacked.\nIf Singing Hoosiers provide students anything, it is an environment in which to grow as adults and performers, as these individuals clearly have. \nEveryone has his or her own Singing Hoosiers story. In my case, during my last semester in the group, unhappy with the material on the Spring Concert program and completely disillusioned with the group as a whole, I realized my heart was no longer in the work we were doing. And if that was the case, I knew I would not be able to give a performance I could be proud of. So I didn’t show up for the concert. \nBut the young men and women who now make up the Singing Hoosiers can take great satisfaction in Saturday’s concert. It was prime example of what such an ensemble is capable of when challenged and encouraged, reassured that being a Singing Hoosier is indeed a mark of pride. I wish them all my sincere congratulations.