Nebraska Choirs Unite to Celebrate

Lincoln Choral Artists (LCA) finished their year with a final celebration of the 150th birthday of Nebraska.  Earlier in the choir year, LCA celebrated the sesquicentennial of Nebraska by collaborating with other Lincoln area choirs. This past Sunday, in O'Donnell auditorium on the Wesleyan campus, LCA was joined by singers from across Nebraska. The Heartland Singers of North Platte and the Grand Island City Singers.

Although the theme was "Sowing the Seeds of Music in Nebraska," it was clear from the participation of talented choirs from across the state that there are not only seeds, but many fruits of music in Nebraska!

The Bellissimo handbell choir of Lincoln also performed, a pleasant surprise on an otherwise choral concert, and the audience enjoyed the experience of seeing the talented performance of this community handbell choir.

The best pieces of the concert were the ones especially suited to the theme of Nebraska's celebration. The visiting choirs both performed works by John Rutter, with the North Platte choir's performance of "For the Beauty of the Earth," a most moving performance.

Two pieces were featured by Nebraska composers: "Nebraska Sky," the work of North Platte native, Kim Baxter, and "The Bee and the Frog," performed by LCA, by composer David von Kampen.

"Blow Prairie Winds," "Rattle on the Stove Pipe," "Song of Peace," performed by the bell choir, were other crowd pleasers that kept the Nebraska theme!

Although the concert was longer than many have the attention span for in this day and age, the massed vocal choir performances of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Beautiful Nebraska/America the Beautiful," and "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" gave a great chance to see the collaboration of the many singers, conductors, pianists, and organist of the day.