South Florida Classical Review

Countertenor Reginald Mobley was a guest soloist with the Master Chorale of South Florida Friday night in Fort Lauderdale.

A celebration of American music, in its many styles and permutations, provided a festive conclusion to the season for the Master Chorale of South Florida on Friday night at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale. 

“Endlessly eclectic” is how artistic director Brett Karlin characterized the American sound and his program “American Voices” represented that diversity on two musical tracks. One was contemporary choral compositions beyond the standard repertoire canon. The other was spirituals and jazz, America’s indigenous music which has inspired many composers, including Dvořák who believed its vernacular impulses would be the basis of native classical literature.

“Unclouded Day” by J.K. Alwood, in an arrangement by Steven Kirchner, was characterized by Karlin as a “bluegrass fugue.” The spirited a cappella mix of country and Bach was sung with enthusiasm and corporate vigor by the large chorus. 

Karlin drew a full palette of dynamics from the singers in the percussive vocal riffs of “TäRekiTa” by Reena Esmail. The piece’s sense of Indian rhythms and melodic patterns proved catchy. The vocal lines of “The Rose” by Ola Gjelio were vibrant, especially when sung with the balanced ensemble and tonal luminance that Karlin drew from the group. With firm support from principal keyboard accompanist Susan Dodd and the voluminous cello sonority of Nathan Jones, Gjelio’s songful vignette was a winner.

From the world of video games, “Baba Yetu” (part of the score for the game Civilization) by Christopher Tin, arranged by Ralph Emerson, was enhanced by the Afro beat of percussionist William Brown.  Karlin brought the same protean artistry and command of choral forces to these vignettes that he has consistently displayed in music of Handel, Haydn or Mozart. The enlivening pulse of Zanaida Robles’ “Vieni Sancte Spiritus” radiated joy while Andre J. Thomas’ “I Dream a World” suggested a more pop sensibility. Karlin brought out multi-tinted vocal colors from the ensemble in a terrific arrangement by Marques L.A. Garrett of “Soon I Will Be Done.”

The Chorale’s strong commitment to music education was represented by assistant conductor Sam Sherman and cellist Kaury Verdieu. Sherman is a second year doctoral candidate in choral conducting and teaching assistant at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Verdieu is part of the music education program of Nat King Cole Generation Hope. Sherman led a flowing performance of “O Love” by Elaine Hagenberg, alongside the warmth of Verdieu’s cello.

A setting by Undine Smith Moore of “I, Too” by Langston Hughes was the concert’s high point. The great poet of the Harlem Renaissance and librettist of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene and William Grant Still’s Troubled Island, Hughes wrote his poem in response to Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” the poet’s idealized description of American life. Opening with the line “I too sing America,” Hughes’ text describes some of the darker aspects of the lives of black Americans in the first half of the twentieth century. Moore’s musical iteration is stern and powerful but also stirring, suggesting hope and uplift. The choir sang it superbly, the splendid All Saints acoustic enhancing the huge climaxes engineered by Karlin.

Karlin announced that the venue would be transformed into the “All Saints Jazz Club” for solo vocal sets by countertenor Reginald Mobley. As a former member and still sometimes guest soloist with Seraphic Fire, Mobley is a familiar figure in South Florida musical circles. 

The purity of his timbre and effortless high range have long marked him as a Baroque specialist. On this occasion, Mobley showed a new facet of musicianship as a jazz singer and interpretive artist of spirituals. While many classical artists sing these works as if they were classic art songs, Mobley did something different and the result was a revelation. Incorporating jazzy inflections and scat into his presentation, Mobley sang these traditional gems with vernacular authenticity.

“Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” had “down home” fervor. Mobley’s accompanist and arranger Phil Hinton’s free and easy keyboard stylings offered an elegant undercurrent to the mourning of Jesus’ crucifixion in “Were You There.”  Mobley’s roulades and Hinton’s wild rhythmic punch made “A Great Camp meetin’” a delight indeed. 

“Resignation,” a terrific original blues spiritual by Florence Price, represented this recently rediscovered composer at her best, unlike some of her overblown orchestral scores. Mobley gave immense feeling and emotion to Price’s evocation, displaying his pristine top register.

The chorus joined Mobley for Patrick Dupre Quigley’s arrangement of “Steal Away,” rendered in fervent tones. One of the chorus’ female singers joined Mobley and the group for an all-out gospel arrangement by Hinton of Thomas Whitfield’s “I Shall Wear a Crown.” With the singers swaying back and forth, the sacred anthem provided a vociferous conclusion to a celebratory evening.

Violinists Victoria Bramble and Brooke Gunter, violist Christian Curran and bassist Verse Tomac were consistently excellent as the concert’s backup band. The program offered a fine presentation of the versatility and ensemble skills Karlin has achieved with the Master Chorale

The Master Chorale repeats the program 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Boca Raton.   masterchoraleofsouthflorida.org

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