The Bakersfield College Chorale and Chamber Singers performed their year-end concert Dec. 1 at the First Presbyterian Church on 17th Street in downtown Bakersfield.
The show opened with a brass quartet playing recognizable Christmas songs while the pews filled with guests who murmured greetings to each other.
The evening started with the Chamber Singers, which contains members of the Chorale group, but it is smaller and “attracts more serious musicians,” according to BC music professor Ron Kean.
The sophistication that Kean expects from his Chamber Singers is reflected in the way he presents each song.
Before the hymnal “Mary Had a Baby,” he apologized to the audience that they would not be able to see the soloist, Marie Guzman, during the song. The logistics of how the singers are arranged can radically change the overall sound, according to Kean.
“[Guzman] is such a strong singer, if I put her up front, she would have to back off,” he said. “If I put her in the back, in the middle, she does not have to back off and will blend with the group.”
Another piece performed in the spirit of Kean’s creativity was Judah’s Macabees, a Hanukkah gospel song written by Los Angeles composer and friend of Kean’s, Karen Hart. This song featured Kean on Djembe drum and soloist Ingrid Borja.
There was also a medley of popular Christmas songs sung to the tune of famous classical music pieces such as Bach’s “1812 Overture,” where the singers played various percussion instruments and occasionally paraded around the stage in hats.
The second part of the performance featured the full Chorale group, which Kean describes as having “larger voices, larger forces.” This part of the concert began with the men of the group leaving the stage and moving up to the lofted pews overlooking the main church hall.
The men then sang a 14th century Gregorian Chant. Kean explained that by placing in this area, it allowed them to take advantage of the full acoustic capabilities of the expansive fellowship area. This, he said, would allow the audience to “fully experience the sound of the 1,600-year-old tradition.”
In addition to diversity of holiday worship songs performed for the audience, Kean also involved them in the show, by selecting two hymns from the hymnal “A Worshipping Church.” This was the final performance of the vocal group for the year.