How Can They Keep From Singing? University Singers and Humboldt Chorale’s Holiday Concert 

With a seasonal flavor and a diverse menu of songs, the University Singers and Humboldt Chorale present their shared winter concert on Sunday December 13 at Fulkerson Recital Hall.

 University Singers (pictured above) perform “a very jubilant setting of the hymn ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?’” said director Rachel Samet, “and a beautiful setting” of a Kentucky folk tune associated with Christmas, “Bright Morning Stars.”

 Their program also includes a Hebrew love song and a hymn by Baroque composer Georg Phillip Telemann based on Psalm 117, with string accompaniment. 

 Samet describes “Famine Song,” as “really powerful and expressive.” Composed by a quartet from Bloomington, Indiana called Vida, it was inspired by Sudanese basket weavers who endured famine.

 In keeping with the season, the Humboldt Chorale performs “December’s Keep” (Greg Gilpin’s arrangement of a Chopin prelude), “Ose Shalom,” the spiritual “Go Where I Send Thee” and Handel’s “Awake the Trumpet’s Lofty Sound.”

 The Chorale also performs the haunting “Ashokan Farewell,” best known from the Ken Burns PBS series The Civil War.

 “Our signature piece this concert is Randall Thompson’s well-known ‘Alleluia,” said Chorale director Elisabeth Harrington. “I wanted to challenge the group to the fullest with this a cappella piece.” 

The University Singers (an HSU group) and the Humboldt Chorale (students and community members) combine to sing "Tshotsholoza," often called the “second national anthem” of South Africa.

Humboldt Chorale and University Singers perform on Sunday December 13 at 8 p.m. in Fulkerson Recital Hall on the HSU campus. Tickets are $8, $5 seniors and children, free to HSU students with ID, from HSU Box Office (826-3928) or at the door.  Produced by HSU Music department.