Chamber singers present inspirational music

The Oaks Chamber Singers presented an inspirational program of choral and vocal music in the picturesque setting of St. John's Seminary in Camarillo on March 15.

The concert, which was sponsored by St. John's, a multicultural community of seminarians constructed in 1939, took place in the seminary's majestic chapel. The chapel's main features are its multicolored stained glass windows and marble decorations, set off from a quad with interior porticoes.

The audience sat in pews that faced each other, "choir-style," from opposite walls of the rectangular expanse, similar to those seen in European monastic settings. The pews were constructed in this fashion to accommodate the daily responsorial masses, infusing the service with a sense of communication.

The concert began with the solo motet "O Qui Coeli Terraeque Serenitas" for voice and strings by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by the Royal Oaks String Quartet, featuring soprano soloist Debra Schaeffer. The work is one of three surviving motets Vivaldi wrote during the Roman carnival seasons in 1723 and 1724.

Vivaldi got a late start writing music for the church. Raised as a violinist, he didn't begin writing sacred vocal music until he was in his early 30s.

The motet requires virtuosity for its soprano lead, and Schaeffer's radiant voice rang throughout the chapel in the four-movement work, which concluded with an exultant "Alleluia."

Following this was the premiere performance of a new group, the Mighty Oaks Men's Quartet, consisting of four standout vocalists from the Oaks Chamber Singers.

The quartet—Leonard Loomis, Steve Johnson, Kyung Tae Kim and Ron Borgwardt— performed four works from contrasting eras, beginning with Hal Hopson's arrangement of Handel's psalm "Praise the Lord" from "Judas Maccabeus."

Next came the lovely "Ave Maria," the most popular work by 20th century German composer Franz Biebl. It was written in 1964 but has only been heard in the U.S. since 1970, when it was introduced by the Cornell University Glee Club.

"Shout for Joy" is a declarative contemporary piece written by Dan Davison, a junior high school choir director from Puyallup, Wash.

The quartet concluded its set with "The Awakening" by Joseph Martin, in which a dreamer wakes to tell the silent world to fill its emptiness with the joyous sounds of music. A therapeutic message in these uncertain times.

The centerpiece of the concert was the majestic "Stabat Mater," the last work of the tragically short-lived Giovanni Pergolesi, who died in 1736 at the age of 26. The work is divided into 12 sections, with choral parts by the Oaks Chamber Singers (led by Annette Murphy) interchanging with segments of chant, movingly sung by the trio of Edward Varias, Raymond Towne and Tom Schultz from the Gregorian Schola of Los Angeles.

The marvelous performance, with the alternating passages ringing out from opposite ends of the chapel, makes one understand why it was the most frequently published work of the 18th century. The splendid soprano solo on "Vidit suum dulcem natum" was sung by Susan Frye.

After the concert, the capacity audience remained seated for a few moments, as if to take in the resplendent setting for a little while longer before returning to the real world. For a brief time, at least, troubles were forgotten and the glorious, centuries-old music washed over all, giving concertgoers a chance to relax and enjoy the spiritual musicality of these remarkable groups.