Vocasphere – Good Friday

I am part of a professional adult chamber ensemble known as Vocasphere.  Most of the singers, myself included, are music graduates of Millikin University.  The group is hosted by First Christian Church in Decatur, Illinois and has done projects over the past two years such as performances at Millikin’s Homecoming, with the Millikin collegiate choirs, Handel’s Messiah at Christmas, and Good Friday services at First Christian.  It is my greatest musical distinction to be part of such an excellent performing ensemble, and as many of us have gone into non-musical fields or into teaching positions, we ache to perform high-quality literature with other highly trained musicians.  Vocasphere is a true gift for us.

Good Friday this year was a performance by Vocasphere for First Christian Church.  We performed a motet of pieces related to the last words of Christ.  The music at the event was a reflective religious performance.  The performers were separate from the audience, but the intention was that all were worshipping together.  The purpose of the music at the event was reflective expression of the feelings of grief related to the death of Christ while simultaneously reflecting in the hope of what was to come three days later on Easter with Christ’s resurrection.

The music was four to six part choral music in a very Britten-esque style.  It sounded extremely “20^th century choral.”  Each movement was approximately 3-4 minutes long.  It was intended for careful listening, written in English so that the audience could understand.  The lyrics were projected on a screen so that the audience could listen purposely and reflectively.

There were 12 singers for the piece: 4 sopranos, 2 altos, 3 tenors, and 3 basses.  We wore black with silver or grey accents.  We stood on the stage at the church and sat between movements for the readings from scripture.  We did not interact with the audience except for the formal interaction that occurs through performance, such as eye contact and facial expressions to demonstrate the music more effectively.  We used printed music on music stands, but we looked up as often as possible.  Our sounds were not amplified.  We acknowledged the audience through head nods after each movement, and we spoke with the congregation after the service was completed.  There was no applause because the service ended in silent reflection and exit.

The audience consisted primarily of families and regular-attending church members.  I noticed many different ages.  There was childcare provided for children under 5, but there were a lot of older children present.  Most people, it seemed, were sitting with their families.  It seemed like most people were from upper-middleclass socioeconomic status, which is the general makeup of the regular church attendance.  The audience did not applaud because it was not in the nature of this particular type of service.  They seemed well-educated on how to behave for the concert.  There was not a printed program, but there were lyrics and reflections and participatory audience segments projected on the screen.  They participated by singing a few hymns at different times in the performance, including “Were You There” and “Let Us Break Bread Together” for communion.  They also participated in certain leader-response readings which were projected on the screen.  There were no tickets necessary.  There are no food or drinks allowed in the sanctuary of the church except bottled water.  I did not see anyone eating or drinking.  The performers had water bottles to drink from during the service.