The Fidelio Society’s spring concert, “Live in Love,” concluded with a rendition of Craig Hella Johnson’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” an homage to nature, simplicity, and positivity. Abbey Siegfried, Choral Director, highlighted the importance of sharing this theme of love with the Andover community. Siegfried hopes that the concert brought to the audience a moment in their hearts to carry—one that gives them joy and peace.
“The common thread between all the texts [is] that the word ‘love’ kept coming back over and over again… [‘Bend’ and ‘Light of the Clear Blue Morning’] are two pieces that we actually started learning last year while part of the group was remote, and so it was something about ending the concert with those two pieces… we are always going to try to let love and living connect us,” said Siegfried.
Audience member Kennedy Herndon ’23 remarked on Fidelio’s expressive repertoire while expressing appreciation for Fidelio’s efforts into preparations for the concert, apparent through the group’s performance.
“The performance really showed the hard work that the people in the choir put in. The last song really stood out, there were a few soloists in it—and they did an amazing job. The lyrics spoke to me a lot more than the others,” explained Herndon.
The lyrics of the songs in the concert also had connections to events of the current world. Zoe Yu ’23 stated that one of the songs, ‘Bend Don’t Break,’ brought back memories from the beginning of the pandemic.
“[“Bend Don’t Break”] is really nostalgic because it brings back Covid times when everything was online… You can have all different kinds of circumstances and sometimes we do bend to certain circumstances but we never break. It reminds me of how resilient we were going through Covid and how deeply connected we stayed whether that be over Zoom or hybrid,” said Yu.
The first Fidelio-only concert in years, “Live in Love” gave Fidelio a chance to communicate the specific themes of love and connection in a longer performance. This was particularly meaningful to the group prior to the Seniors’ departure in June, according to Erin Kim ’23, a member of Fidelio.
“I’m so grateful that we had this concert because it was a chance to celebrate our Seniors. In between pieces, three of our awesome Seniors, Catherine, Somin, and Kate, spoke about their Fidelio experience and how much they love and cherish our community. Fidelio’s a family—we literally call ourselves ‘Fidi Fam’—and for me, this concert was a culmination of all the joy and happy memories that we’ve had with each other throughout the years, which was really special,” said Kim.
Siegfried further emphasized the concert’s focus on community. Siegfried finds that the focus on the present, whether during rehearsal or performing, is very significant to the values of Fidelio as a group.
“My wish for [members of Fidelio] is always just that we, when you’re performing, that you just let the world melt away, and you are present in the moment with each other—that was what they did today, and it was beautiful. That’s all my wish ever is. It’s not for a specific thing, or doing something in a particular way; it’s that when you’re singing together, you’re truly finding that connection with each other, and if we can do that, then we’ve done it,” said Siegfried.
Editor’s Note: Erin Kim ’23 is a Managing Editor for The Phillipian.
