The following article is taken from the ‘06-’07 year-end-review issue of The Standard, St. Andrew’s newsletter.
St. Andrew’s Academy Choir Sings All Over California
Little did the choristers of St. Andrew’s Academy know what an eventful and enjoyable year of singing awaited them this last school year. They were aware of an invitation to sing with the Susanville Symphony, at the 2006 Christmas Concert, but they didn’t know the other opportunities to be faced during the rest of the year.
The choir began the year by working on William Byrd’s arrangement of Ave Verum Corpus, “Hail, true body,” and sang that anthem at a wedding in October and then again at a funeral the same month. The funeral was for Marie Foos, the grandmother of the academy’s headmaster, who expressed his deep thanksgiving for the choir’s participation. The choir has sung the service music and anthems at a number of funerals over the years, including the funeral of the father of this year’s graduate. The choir also sang for graduation this year, and for every graduation so far. It has been a faithful minister of comfort and joy for many people over the years.
When the music for the Symphony concert arrived, the choristers worked harder than ever to learn the difficult piece. The hard work paid off, as the piece was a highlight of everyone who spoke of the concert with the Symphony. The choir was especially tickled that the concert was the world premier of that piece, a arrangement for orchestra and four-part choir of O Come, O Come Emmanuel by conductor Benjamin Wade. Said the Lassen County Times: “The academy choir joined the symphony and moved the audience to tears, exuberant applause, and a well-deserved standing ovation.”
The choir barely had a chance to relax before Hilary Term began in January and they were working on their anchor piece for the year, Byrd’s Mass In Three Voices. This Mass, though set only for Soprano, Alto, and Bass, was a great stretch for the choristers, who again worked harder than ever, with extra practices, to pull 25 minutes of straight singing together in time for the March Winter Concert. All agreed that this concert was the best to date, and the audience was enthusiastic and encouraging.
But 25 minutes was only half what they choir had to sing in the Spring, after being invited to Pepperdine University’s The Ascending Voice: An International Symposium of Sacred A Cappella Music. St. Andrew’s was the only Anglican choir represented at the symposium, so the choristers got to participate within a range of other choral traditions, including Russian, Byzantine, and Church of Christ.
The Choir performed on the afternoon of June 5. From plainsong to Anglican chant to hymns to service music to anthems, the range of the Anglican Choral Tradition was explored, with the audience joining the choir for two hymns and a canticle. The choir concluded the concert with Byrd’s Mass, which showed the collegiate and cathedral traditions of Anglican Choral Music.
In order to make the trip financially feasible, the trip to Pepperdine was turned into a California Choir Tour. The highlights included singing in the beautiful English country Church building at St. Luke’s in Santa Ana and the wonderful acoustic space of St. Mary’s in Hollywood as well as singing for Christ the King Church in Atascadero, which parish is a faithful supporter of St. Andrew’s Academy and a longtime friend of many of the staff. The choir sang a concert for Trinity Presbyterian Church in San Luis Obispo and then enjoyed a night on the town and burgers after the concert. Dr. Brian Kay, who sits on the board of directors for St. Andrew’s Academy is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian.
In addition to singing seven concerts in eight days, the students toured California State University in San Luis Obispo and Pepperdine University and played for an afternoon at Pismo Beach.
In sum, the year was a full and rewarding one for the choir, and we look forward to next year’s challenges and opportunities.
Latest St. Andrew’s Academy CD
The St. Andrew’s Academy Choir produced its 
second CD last Spring, Byrd’s Mass in Three Voices. The recording features the five pieces of a traditional worship service—the Kyrie, Credo, Sanctus/Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and Gloria—as composed by William Byrd in the soprano, alto, and bass voices. As was traditional for many centuries, the piece was written in Latin, and thus the choir sings it.
Compact discs are available by emailing or calling the school. A $15 donation is requested, but very enthusiastic fans who can’t quite afford this will not be denied. The choir is very thankful to Mr. Roger Walden of Almanor Photography <almanorphotography.com> for the beautiful picture of Mt. Lassen over Lake Almanor used for the cover of the CD.
St. Andrew’s Choir Sings with Symphony
For the second year in a row, the St. Andrew’s Academy Choir was invited to sing with the Susanville Symphony at the Symphony’s Christmas Concert. As well as singing compositions by John Williams, the highlight for the chorister was singing the pieces arranged just for them and the orchestra by the Symphony’s conductor, Benjamin Wade.
The choir joined the orchestra in the second half of the concert and started with the Coventry Carol (which dates to the 1500’s), a song written for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which occurs during the 12 days of Christmas. The holy innocents were those boy children two and under who were killed by King Herod in his mad frenzy to kill the Christ Child.
Mr. Wade also arranged “The Little Drummer Boy” for choir and orchestra, and this was the encore for the concert. He modeled this arrangement upon Ravel’s Bolero, in which a single instrument begins the song, followed by another, and another, until the entire orchestra is playing at full volume. In little drummer boy, a single snare-drum was the appropriate first instrument, played pianissimo at first, but at full-blast by the end.
Three sold-out audiences greatly enjoyed these choral pieces, and Mr. Wade said how much he enjoyed arranging music for the St. Andrew’s Academy Choir. The choristers enjoyed themselves also, the little ones practically sitting in the bells of the French Horns. The Choir looks forward to singing again with the orchestra, perhaps in the Winter of 2009.
copyright 2008 St. Andrew’s Academy