Probably one of the most energetic performances I’ve been to, The UW Gospel Choir under the director Phyllis M. Byrdwell presented their Winter March 3rd concert with a massive praise and crowd participation. This Christian African tradition invoked just as much singing out of the audience as the choir.
Performed at Meany Hall on the campus of the University of Washington, the UW gospel choir are known for their Christian hymns, folk songs and gospel music. The UW Winter concert featured the Wind ensemble of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Seattle. They also focused on soloist that sung with a kind of bel-canto recitative style that was extremely entertaining and energetic. The cultural atmosphere in the concert hall resembled that of a middle-class Christian church. The crowd was surprisingly diverse but a common attribute was the Christian faith and enthusiasm; they stood up and praised the lord with every chorus. The UW Gospel choir were mainly students who were lucky enough to get into the class which has a record of being filled the quickest. They too, sung with joy and determination, as if to lift the sky. The Wind ensembles were comprised of African-American church members, with an exception of one Asian, but they too had this incredible religious zeal. The ensemble performed the harmony and contained a jazz like ensemble; a keyboard, bass guitar, percussionist, saxophone and trombone.
The Audience loved every moment of it. At first, people felt this sort of awkwardness, but that soon became anticipation with the loud praises of the choir and the soloist and finally it became a full blown flow of interactions between the audience and the musicians with the command to stand up and sing. I remember distinctly that a family in the front of the concert stood up and lifted their hands in praise, answering each of the phrases of the soloist with an “AMEN”. This was very much like a Sunday morning sermon, but amped up by a thousand.
The music can be described as a mix of jazz and secular music. The songs are rhythmically prominent by syncopation, a driving beat, and divisions of beats. Mainly, simple major and minor triads are used to resemble a positive sounding secular style. African style can also be heard with the percussion of the drums, as heard in the song Siyahamba and improvisations (important in all gospel music) of the leader/soloist as heard in Walk and Talk with Jesus. Improvisations can sound like a conversation between the choir and the leader. The song Solid Rock with soloist Sarah Chaplin, in a sort of call and response style, had Sarah talking to the choir with “stand on what?” and a huge response of “my solid rock”.
The performance was fascinating. I loved the energy and interaction it summoned between the crowd and musician. The director even stated that the crowd participation was required. However, I felt uncomfortable and a little intimidated since my secular values weren’t as strong. Although I am Christian, I rather praise in peace than a full blown musical concert. I was inspired by many of the soloist, especially Ebony Jefferson. I felt as though she sang into my heart with her full voice and rich tone that would shake anyone into rejoicing. All in all, the UW Gospel Choir performed amazingly and truly sang into the hearts of the audience.
