by Deb Alter
Janet McGhee, Founding Artistic Director of the Battenkill Chorale is passionate about singing, and especially so about singing with and leading the Battenkill Chorale. It was apparent when she spoke to the audience and introduced each number at the ensemble’s concert at Immaculate Conception Church in Hoosick Falls. The practice time the singers had put in, their dedication to and love of their art were apparent during their performances last weekend.
[private]The concert was a celebration of the twenty years of the Battenkill Chorale, and they sang works that travelled through their history and the history of song. Songs in the program were chosen from their early years, their trip to Europe a few years ago, and from very recent times. Many had strong emotional meaning for them.
They sang classical and contemporary songs and everything in between, ranging from Mozart to Copeland to contemporary pop tunes. The voices sang out the sad, eerily haunting Avinu Malkeynu (including the beautiful solo by mezzo soprano Susan Hermance Fedak), an inspirational South African freedom song, and hymns. The duet from Don Giovanni sung by Katherine McNeice and Nicholas Lasoff was wonderful, and solos of classical compositions by Amy Clark and Gene Marie Callahan were inspiring. An in-costume performance of pure Americana featuring Paul Lambert and Bliss McIntosh (on piccolo) added a touch of whimsy. No matter what era or style, each song was performed to perfection, a beautiful blending of sounds and spirit that made the heart soar.
The final song of the evening was a spirited, upbeat rendition of the pop favorite “Route 66”, which somehow took a turn onto “Route 22” and took us through Greenwich, Cambridge and right here to Hoosick Falls, which capped off a very satisfying evening of music.
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