Under the warm stage lights of Cochran Chapel and against the lingering chill of late winter, Andover’s Chorus and Fidelio ensembles presented their concert, “So Breaks the Sun.” Featuring various spirituals, contemporary choral works, and a Beatles classic, the Friday evening program followed a deliberate emotional arc centered on hope and resilience through darkness.
The concert opened with “So Breaks the Sun,” a technically complex piece that set the tone for the evening. Amina Gorman ’26, Fidelio Co-Head, described the song as a departure from the ensemble’s typical repertoire this year.
“I would definitely say that ‘So Breaks the Sun’ was a different song than Fidelio has done in the past, at least throughout this year. It was a really, really difficult song to learn, and we spent a lot of time working on it. It came out pretty good. Our rehearsal beforehand showed us that we were ready and prepared for the concert,” said Gorman.
Landon Maloney ’29, a low tenor, explained how the idea for this concert came about, emphasizing how the emotional structure of it reflected Chorus Director Dr. Siegfried’s broader philosophy of programming.
“[Dr. Siegfried] talked to me about [the programming] a couple of rehearsals before the concert, and how each song plays a really important part in [it’s] journey. For this concert, [it] originally stemmed off of the MLK set that we did, and the idea of finding hope even through the darkness. And then, from the MLK set, we added songs we did before holiday break, it starts out a bit mundane, then it gets better, then it gets worse, and then it gets better. It shows [how to] always look [for] hope through the ups and downs of life,” said Maloney.
Part of the MLK set was the song “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” which was accompanied by Rebecca Plummer on the piano, and Harry (Ruihao) Wang ’27 on the saxophone. Sarah Sun ’29, an audience member, noted how the saxophone accompaniment elevated the performance.
“The saxophone was a surprising addition to the song ‘Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.’ I personally would have never thought of pairing it with a chorus singing that song. But it added a cool touch to the performance that was different from the rest,” said Sun.
Hannah Oh ’27, a Fidelio and Chorus member, found particular meaning in “Celtic Blessing,” the fifth movement of Songs for the Journey, where the lyrics resonated with her
“It was talking about how God [may] hold…your face in the palm of his hands, and I thought that was really emotional, because I’m also a Christian, and [the line reminded me of] whenever I have to leave my friends to go somewhere else, or just not be able to see family members for a really long time. It’s a really powerful line, where it’s talking about how we hope that God protects them,” said Oh.
“Here Comes the Sun” wrapped up the concert with a hopeful note while also leaving room for the audience to join in on the chorus. Sun shared that the chorus’s rendition improved the already iconic song by adding a distinct creative touch.
“My favorite part of the performance was ‘Here Comes the Sun’ because it’s a song that’s known all over the world and listening to it being sung by the chorus was really cool. They added their own touch to the song to make it more catchy. The harmonies from the sopranos were my favorite parts,” said Sun.
