In June of 2021, Dr. Jenny Bent, Director of Choral Activities at SSU, began preparing for a performance that was almost one year away, on April 17, 2022. Bent, along with the SSU chamber singers SonoVoce, the SSU concert choir, as well as choirs from Santa Rosa Junior College, and Reedley College, had been hard at work in the months leading up to the concert, which took place during the New England Symphonic Ensemble’s performance on Perelman stage at the infamous Carnegie Hall . 

The concert, conducted by Bent, and performed by these groups from three different schools, was a culmination of the schools’ efforts to perform in the legendary Carnegie Hall. 

This performance, a collaborative project between three schools, Sonoma State, Santa Rosa Junior College, and Reedley College, was under the direction of Bent, Jody Benecke, and Dr. Kirstina Rasmussen Collins respectively. Each school had their own training sessions, with Bent joining Reedley’s sessions via Zoom, and the SRJC joining the Sonoma State choir team during their rehearsals in the months leading up to the Carnegie Hall production. 

The two classical pieces performed were, Johannes Brahms “Schicksalslied, Op. 54” and Ola Gjieilos’ “Dark Night of the Soul” which were chosen by Bent for the concert. Each piece, according to Bent, “…deals with fate and redemption, yet the differences between the musically Romantic style of the Brahms and the modern compositional elements of the Gjeilo are striking. Both are breathtakingly beautiful, yet appeal to our senses through very different musical means.” 

Each hour-long, weekly rehearsal was vigorous and strict, as each school prepared to perform for a large auditorium of up to 3000 people. Month by month, the students painstakingly rehearsed every facet of their songs, from the high notes to the clashing, tonal voices heard throughout each piece. 

After their rehearsal sessions were done, the students anxiously counted down the days until their trip to Carnegie Hall. The plane ride was cramped, but fun, according to some of the student performers; they said that overall it was a quick flight because they got to bond with one another. 

Once the flight landed, students from all three schools met up to rehearse for the concert. During their two days of final preparation, Friday and Saturday, the combined ensembles rehearsed during the day and were allowed some time at night to explore the city and walk around. Sunday, the day of the show, the choirs rehearsed right before taking the stage at 2:00 p.m.

The atmosphere in the hall during their pieces was, “…Phenomenal…the grandeur and beauty of Carnegie Hall was also breathtaking during the entire performance,”said Bent. One student, Abbigayle Samuels, a fourth-year music major, said, “The atmosphere was electric, it was such an amazing honor to perform on that stage and leave our marks on this important landmark in music history.” During the songs, Samuels performed the main solo for the piece, Dark Night of the Soul, and other students provided the harmonies and melodies for both songs. 

Once the concert was over the students were overjoyed yet sentimental about performing on one of the greatest stages in the world. Andrew Cedeno, a fourth-year SSU student and vocal performance major, said, “Seeing that this is my last semester at SSU, this performance was an amazing way to wrap up my college career. It also made me reminisce about when I performed there before with my high school band.”

Now back at Sonoma State, the chamber singers, now known as SonoVoce and the SSU Concert Choir are in final preparations for their spring concert, entitled, My Spirit Sang All Day, which premieres on May 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Hall at the Green Music Center.