Music / This Shining Night, Canberra Choral Society. At Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest. September 21. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Celebrating Canberra’s spring season, Canberra Choral Society’s latest concert was a selection of contemporary choral music by North American composers.

The large choir was accompanied by pianist Anthony Smith and the direction was by Dan Walker. Rachel Mink, soprano, was the soloist.

Mink began the concert with a solo performance of Sure On This Shining Night by Samuel Barber. Her beautiful soprano filled the large church with Barber’s shimmering setting of the words by American, James Agee.

The choir then sang three works, two by American composers, Jane Kozhevnikova and Gwyneth Walker and one by Canadian, Sarah Quartel. With the first, Can We Reflect the Stars, by Kozhevnikova, the choir impressed with its performance in creating a truly ethereal atmosphere.

In the second work by Quartel, Hope Is The Thing With Feathers, a setting of the poem by Emily Dickinson, the choir’s sensitive performance underlined the deeper meaning of the poem.

Walker’s Ring Out, Wild Bells gave the choir the opportunity to show the power of their singing. The finale of this joyful work was awesome.

The choral brackets of the concert were interspersed with solo works featuring Mink. These more intimate works were sung with great sensitivity. Her performances of Barb’ry Allen, He’s Gone Away and Will There Really Be A Morning were outstanding.

The range of works performed reflected the melting pot of North Americans. Amongst the large number of works presented by the choir, the delicacy of Eric Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque, the warmth of Samuel Barber’s The Coolin and Amy Beach’s beautiful work, Peace I Leave With You, were highlights.

Dan Walker’s arrangement of the well-known lullaby, Summertime, by George Gershwin from his folk opera Porgy and Bess, was performed by Mink with the choir. Walker’s arrangement gave this work a spiritual sense that was unexpected and refreshing and was another highlight of the concert.

The choir also sang another setting of Sure On This Shining Night, this time by composer, Morten Lauridsen. It was a more reflective treatment and equally as beautiful as the earlier Barber arrangement. The Barber setting of this work was then sung by Mink with the choir, bringing this enjoyable concert of thoughtfully chosen works to a close.