Stanford University fielded its top choral team for a first-ever joint presentation with the Kona Choral Society on March 28 at Hale Halawai in Kailua-Kona. The performance was part of the Kona Choral Society’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The world-renowned Stanford Chamber Chorale is the Stanford Department of Music’s most select choir, consisting of only 24 voices. The chorale has performed in Japan, England, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Italy, Israel, and France in venues such as the great cathedrals of Ely, Exeter, Salisbury, St. John’s College at Oxford, the Great Hall of the People at Beijing, and the Armed Forces Television Network.
The 90-plus voices of the Kona Choral Society joined those of the Stanford Chamber Chorale and also sang from its own repertoire of classic, contemporary, and Hawaiian music during the free performance.
The program included four types of chamber choral music: the early classical period, more recent music such as Howell’s “Requiem: Salvator mundi,” music by Queen Liliuokalani such as “e kala kuu upu ana” (arranged by Byron Yasui), and American spirituals.