The TSU Meistersingers Bring Down the House with their Parthenon Debut
On the evening of Super Bowl Sunday, music lovers packed the Parthenon at Centennial Park full in anticipation of a double-billing of wonderful music. Organized by the Centennial Park Conservancy as part of their ECHO “Chamber Music at the Parthenon” series, the concert’s program featured performances from the Nashville Chamber Music Series and the Tennessee State University Meistersingers. Led by Grammy-nominated educator, Professor Jasmine Fripp, the Meistersingers serve as Tennessee State University’s flagship chamber ensemble comprising both music majors and non-music majors. The Meistersingers were originally slated to make their debut on January 25th, but due to the ice storm that had incapacitated the city for weeks on end, their performance was postponed to February 8th.
Following a very lovely performance of compositions by four Nashville-based composers and a brief intermission, the TSU Meistersingers took the stage at 8:45 pm. Professor Fripp greeted the audience and asked members to rise for the singing of the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” From the first phrase, the ensemble demonstrated tremendous musical command over Roland Carter’s superb arrangement of this hymn. The piece served as a wonderful introduction to the ensemble’s selections for the evening. Next on the program was Peter Louis van Dijk’s “Chariots,” a thrilling work containing frantic, overlapping texts and cascading polyphonic lines among the voice parts, juxtaposed by eerily beautiful lyrical passages. The Meistersingers navigated the immense challenges of providing clear textual diction, in a hall with a five second decay time, no less, impressively well.
The most gripping aspect of the ensemble’s performance, though, was the way in which the members communicated the narrative of the text. I was struck by the way in which each individual shouldered the burden of storytelling through their performance. Singers used movement and body language to express and personify the text, interacting with each other and audience members, as if they alone were tasked with relaying the story contained within the lyrics. The juxtaposition between the militaristic formality of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and the frenetic, conversational quality of “Chariots” was so stark that the Meistersingers couldn’t help but to grip audiences. This, I thought, was a brilliant directional decision from Professor Fripp. Throughout the night, the group demonstrated their ability to seamlessly weave between operating as a seasoned performance ensemble and an elite-level show choir. Likewise, the evening’s programming was excellent, showcasing the ensemble’s range and including a wide variety of repertoire which paced the concert expertly.
Other ensemble highlights featured Ken Burton’s astounding work entitled “A Prayer.” This is a very challenging piece, both harmonically and technically, including many tricky sonorities, and even more daunting, many ensemble unisons. The Meistersingers rose to the occasion with no problem. During “A Prayer”, the excellence of Professor Fripp’s direction really shone through. Her gestural pattern was entirely expressive, yet precise. And I found myself fascinated by some of the ensemble phrasing that she employed. Having been familiar with this arrangement prior to their performance, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear her unique interpretation regarding tempo, dynamics, and the general push-pull of the piece. The work was an excellent selection for the venue as the Parthenon complimented the dramatic ending of phrases gorgeously. Rosephanye Powell’s “To Sit and Dream” was another wonderful selection from the program. The highlight of this piece was during a choreographed moment where the ensemble broke from formation upon the words “I reach out my hand to you.” The members of the audience began to walk toward the front row with their arms outstretched and making eye contact with the audience, as if they were offering their hand. After remaining stationary for the beginning of the song, this was an extremely moving moment and yet another excellent directional decision employed by Professor Fripp.
In addition to the ensemble connectivity the Meistersingers’ clearly displayed throughout the various selections, the program also featured soloists from the ensemble. One standout moment was a rendition of the spiritual, “Deep River,” performed and arranged by the Meistersingers’ own Cameron Jones. Jones performed the hymn in a gorgeous counter-tenor register. The musicality and phrasing of Jones’s “Deep River” were simply breathtaking. Jones later conducted the ensemble in his own arrangement of Chris Stapleton’s (and/or David Allen Coe’s) “Tennessee Whiskey,” which featured Brandon Hill as a soloist. Hill delivered an extremely tasteful performance and tackled the tremendous vocal demand of the song with ease, and the performance was a standout of the evening. Immediately following, soprano Cerenity Holliday performed an unaccompanied medley of hymns written by Jordan G. Welch. Holliday, quite simply, is a special, special talent. For about five minutes, the Parthenon turned into a church while Cerenity captured the ears of every person in the room. You could have heard a pin drop.
The final song of the evening was Kurt Carr’s Black gospel classic, “For Every Mountain,” led by soloist Sarah Evans. Evans masterfully guided the ensemble through the song’s introduction and ad-libbed throughout the choruses. And as the vamp began and the choir’s dynamic level and intensity built, one could not help but to feel immensely moved by the performance. The conclusion of the song was met with an enthusiastic standing ovation from the audience, followed by a final chorus of “For Every Mountain.” It was a perfect way to cap off the evening’s performance.
The Meistersingers were truly spectacular, making a debut that is not soon to be forgotten. For Nashville residents who are fans of choral music, the Meistersingers should absolutely be on your short list of ensembles to check out. The range of styles that they have mastery over, in addition to the group’s individual talent and outstanding direction make them a real force to be reckoned with in the choral world. Needless to say, seeing the Meistersingers’ debut at the Parthenon was well-worth catching the Bad Bunny performance on YouTube later that night.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Ethan Morrell is a composer and audio engineer from Nashville, Tennessee. He is currently finishing up his Bachelor’s degree at MTSU. In his free time, Ethan enjoys attending concerts, cooking, and following NBA basketball. He is also a co-host of The Fresh Faced Filmbro podcast.
