Performing alongside Andover’s Fidelio Society and Academy Chorus, the Savannah Country Day School (SCDS) Concert Choir visited Andover this past Sunday from Savannah, Ga., as part of a north-south musical exchange. Last March, the Academy Chorus traveled to Savannah and participated in a performance with the SCDS Concert Choir at SCDS and at a local church. Following this collaboration, Maaja Roos, Director of the Savannah Choir, and Christopher Walter, Instructor in Music and Director of the Fidelio and the Academy Chorus, cooperated to arrange another joint concert that would take place in Andover’s Cochran Chapel. “We wanted to invite them here and return their hospitality,” said Walter. The SCDS Concert Choir opened the concert with the performance of Rudolf Tobias’ “Jeruusalemma Tütred.” Two soloists from the Choir, Grace Eckmann and Maya Hardrick, took the spotlight with a harmonious soprano duet from the opera “Sull’ Aria” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “I thought the two soloists were outstanding. They really wowed the audience with that performance,” said Patrick Monaghan ’14. “Although the Savannah Choir is quite a bit smaller than our chorus, it included some really impressive voices, sopranos in particular, who shone in some outstanding solo performances,” said Walter. The Fidelio Society presented next, performing “Fyer, Fyer!” by Thomas Morley, a fast-paced song that set a contrast with the slower and more elegant melodies sung by the SCDS Concert Choir. Fidelio concluded its performance with Michael McGlynn’s “An Oiche,” a slow piece sung in Gaelic. The SCDS Concert Choir and Andover Chorus ended the finale of the concert with a joint performance of the piece “Regina Coeli KV 27” by Mozart. A combined voices of 60 singers on the stage created a strong and unified performance. “So many people were singing, and [‘Regina Coeli’] was very exciting to perform,” said Martha Ann Dodd from the SCDS Concert Choir. “With very few weeks to prepare for the Concert, the choirs performed very well together. Collaborations in performances such as these spur our students on to practice hard, and the result is gratifying both musically and socially,” said Walter. The SCDS Concert Choir marked the end of its Northeast Tour with its performance at a church in Boston on October 8.
