Lauren McKinney
Staff Writer
It is time for the holidays and the Collegiate Chorale is ready to sing in the season.
University of Wyoming’s Collegiate Chorale is hosting their annual Chorale by Candlelight Concert today and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be at St Matthew’s Cathedral at 104 S 4th Street in Laramie.
Nichole Lamartine, the choir’s leader, began the event back in 2009. The concert continues to grow each year.
“I felt that the Collegiate Chorale needed a special experience for the fall season, and I created this concert not as a christmas concert, not as a holiday concert, but as a concert to celebrate the intent of the season: peace, kindness and being good humans,” said Lamartine.
The concert is a favorite among some of the choir department and community. Francesca Hinkle, a senior in the Collegiate Chorale, said the concert is her favorite to perform and is sad that this is her last year performing at the event.
“The community has really come to expect this concert every year and it has grown every year,” said Lamartine. “I love this concert because it’s all about the audience experience and the audience can experience our message through the atmosphere that we create.”
The theme of this year’s Chorale by Candlelight is “the deepening light”. Lamartine said the theme explores the idea that there is a light in all of us and there are many things that affect that light.
“Sometimes we feel the light is being shadowed by the darkness. Sometimes we are looking for other opportunities so that our light can become brighter and so that we can become a bright light for other people,” said Lamartine.
The concert will also feature special guest Tim Ribner. Ribner is a pianist from the Portland, Oregan area who has prepared choral pieces that are exclusively for the Chorale by Candlelight performance.
“Tim at the piano is able to support the choir and become a real interactive collaborator in all of the different styles of music ranging from classical to contemporary choral music to 70s feel good music to Civil Rights march music,” said Lamartine.
Hinkle said Ribner has really stepped up to the plate as the choir’s new accompanist. Hinkle also said Ribner is a great improviser and contributes a lot to the concert.
Also featured in the concert is Jeff Selden, Lamartine’s husband. Selden plays the guitar for the concert every year.
“He has been just a collaborator with us for this concert since its inception. It’s become a tradition that he plays a couple songs, maybe sings some by himself and then we always do a duet,” said Lamartine.
The concert is held in St. Matthews Cathedral. Lamartine said the church provides a more intimate space for the concert because the choir is able to surround the audience as they sing.
“The audience never quite knows where the sound will be coming from and it’s not a typical concert where the choir is always at the front. It’s very much an interactive experience for the audience,” said Lamartine.
The audience is a big part of the concert. Friends, family, students, faculty and members of the community all makeup the audience. There are interactive sing-alongs to some traditional Christmas songs that the audience can join in on.
“It’s the most diverse audience that we have for any chorale concert if not any concert at the music department,” said Lamartine.
Hinkle said this is one concert she tells her friends and family not to miss out on.
The concert has sold out in previous years and is set to do so again this year. Tickets can be purchased at the UW Fine Arts Box Office website.
