“A World of Sound”: Music from around the world

On Thursday evening, the choir programs at Tarleton State University put on a very beautiful concert. Song selections were chosen from different countries around the world, including Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Zimbabwe and the US. Under the direction of Troy Robertson, all three choirs put on an amazing performance.

The concert started off with a lovely rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” sung by a select group from the Women’s Ensemble. It was a very nice performance by the ladies.

The gentlemen performed next, with a song choice from South Africa called “Tshotsholoza”. For the beginning of this song, the men came from outside and walked in to the beat of the song. It was a very interesting and enjoyable piece. The Chamber Choir came next, with three folk songs, chosen from Zimbabwe and Brazil.

The Women’s Ensemble came back out and sang three more pieces ranging from Brazil, to Spain, to Mexico. The ladies performed all songs very well, but the stand out piece was “What the West Wind Whispers”, composed by Tarleton’s own Troy Robertson. The song was a beautiful piece, and the ladies did a wonderful job. With an assist by Lanae Ford on the piano, the music and the voices blended very well together to make for an amazing piece of music.

The Texan Gentlemen followed the Women’s Ensemble with three very interesting song choices. “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” was the first piece, and they entered stomping, using chains and a sledge hammer for their sound effects.

The stand out performance from the men was the song “Wagon Wheel by Bob Dylan, made popular today by Darius Rucker. The men did a very good job with the song, with Landon Haston, Trevor Nowlan, and Jacob Humphries as soloists, John Purget on guitar, and Corey Wartham on bass. The song was an excellent choice for the men.

The Chamber Choir appeared again to sing a few more pieces. Selections all came from the United States, with another piece composed by Troy Robertson. Stand out performance for the Chamber Choir was the song “How Can I Cry?” by Moira Smiley. Ashley Morrison, soloist, did an amazing job of expressing the meaning of the song. Sam White, percussion, also did a nice job blending the percussion sound well with the voices of the choir.

All choirs made an appearance for the Tarleton Color Song, which was the final selection of the concert. It was sung beautifully by the choirs, with assistance from everyone in the audien