WINTER CONCERT, TRILLIUM AND WHITE PINE GLEE CLUB

The Winter Concert presented by Trillium, the JDS Women’s Club Chorus, resounded throughout the peaked gallery of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Troy with rich tones and finely tuned harmonies.

The concert, which took place Sunday, December 9, 2007 included rousing performances by the White Pine Glee Club, conducted by Hitoshi Shirai and Yasuhiko Habara and accompanied by pianists Reiko Yagi and Ayumi Nishizawa.  Selections included Hometown, O Holy Night, and T. Wantanabe’s Go! Go! Hiuma, each moving and expressive.  Also performing were soprano solos and duet Izumi Ozaki and Hiromi Wakabayashi performing La Zingara, O Mio Babbino Caro and Alleluia, followed by the remarkable piano duet of Minako Yoshino and Ayako Young.  This young duet covered the J.M. Ravel composition Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte, a popular 16th Century dance inspired by the Louvre.

Of course, the emotional center of the afternoon of song was the Trillium performance, whose rendition of Ave Maria was flawless, and whose trio of traditional Japanese children’s song was both inspiring, lighthearted and magnificent.  The group’s tonal skills and tone quality were at their peak, and with outstanding preparation and excellent musicianship demonstrated, the performance was categorically clean and accurate with great attention paid to musical detail.  Shine on Me, the traditional African American spiritual, gave the show both a beautifully arranged and multi-cultural bridge, which offered the chilly December afternoon a warm glow of sunshine as well as a solid understanding of Japanese interpretations of many tunes that for Westerners are an indispensable part of the Christmas tradition.