Concert Report: The Essence Of Joy

The Essence of Joy Recently Penn State choir, Essence of Joy, performed their first concert of the year. The concert was live streamed, which provided others, myself included, who were unable to attend to experience the concert. This was a concert that included works of various composers and songs that all complemented each other well. With its gospel-esc sounds, the choir brought soul and rhythm to each piece of music they performed. The concert featured various composers and the majority of the music that was performed was spiritual music. There were two featured composers— Glenn Burleigh and Moses Hogan— along with a few other composers— Sydney Guillaume, Larry Fallow, Kurt Carr, Anthony Brown, Raymond Wise, V. Michael McKay, Anthony Leach, Lonnie Lynn(a.k.a. Common), Che Smith, and John Stephens(a.k.a. John Legend). Moses Hogan, one of the featured composers, was a composer/arranger of choral music with a strong emphasis on African-American spirituals. The other featured composer, …show more content…
The men and women that made up the Essence of Joy choir possessed great overall sound quality. Each voice complements the other and blended well together. There was a mix of vocal parts— tenor, bass, alto, and soprano— that provided a rich and diverse timbre and texture. In addition to a well blended sound, the choir also showcases strong dynamics. It was possible to hear the various dynamics, like crescendos and decrescendos. The choreography that the choir performed was engaging and suited the songs that some choreography. Also, the majority of songs and their arrangements that were performed had an up-beat and hopeful tone quality. For example, “Glory” from the film Selma gives off a hopeful vibe that one day the people (African-Americans) will win the war that they are battling. This was a concert that was filled with uplifting songs and wonderful dynamics that drew in the attention of the