Last Sunday, friends and family gathered at the Chapel at 3:30 p.m. to witness “The Name Game,” the final concert of the year for Colgate’s choral ensembles. The concert was directed by Director of Choral and Vocal Activities James D. Niblock, and consisted of the Chamber Singers, the Women’s Ensemble, the Concert Choir and pieces by the Men of the University Choirs and the Women of the University Choirs. University Organist Glenn Kime accompanied many of the songs on the piano and organ. As evidenced by the title of the concert, all the songs were named after people, and told those people’s stories. This led to a concert that told stories from diverse cultures and languages.

The diligence of these ensembles was immediately obvious. Each group filed on and off the stage and lifted and opened their folders with precision. Many of the songs included pauses, which were strictly initiated and ended, with no trailing voices. Some of the songs also had side-slapping or stomping, which was performed meticulously. There was also a sense of unity from the matching dresses and suits worn by all members of the groups.

The concert began with the Chamber Singers, the smallest and most impressive ensemble. A coed group, the Chamber Singers consists of four sopranos, altos and basses and three tenors. They sang five songs – “Tue es Petrus” in Greek, the traditional Scottish song “Annie Laurie,” “Nicolette,” “As Vesta was” and the Bosnian folk song “Ne Sedi, Djemo!”.

The Women’s Ensemble went next. As a group solely made up of women, this ensemble’s sections were split up more strictly into soprano one, soprano two, alto one and alto two. They sang five songs, as well, which were “Minnie & Winnie,” “sam was a man,” “Ave Maria,” British Isles folk tune “Barbara Allen” and the traditional spiritual “Go Down, Moses.” First-year Kathleen Armenti had a solo in “Barbara Allen”, and first-year Olga Peshko, sophomore Emily Rawdon, and first-year Jane Scheinman had solos in “Go Down, Moses”.

The Women’s Ensemble was followed by two songs performed by the Men of the University Choirs. Both of these songs, “Gentle Annie” and the Spanish song “Rodrigo Martinez,” were accompanied by Assistant Professor of Music Mark Volker on the guitar. “Rodrigo Martinez” had an amusing interlude of whistling instead of singing the tune, which left the audience in a good mood to eagerly wait through the intermission.

The Women of the University Choirs sang one song, “Gesang aus Fingal,” next. This song was accompanied by Ilze Brink-Button and Julia Hasbrouck Clay on the horn. The rest of the show was performed by the Concert Choir. Another coed group, this ensemble also consisted of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. They sang six songs – “Sicent Moses, serpentem,” “Old Joe has Gone Fishing,” “Valiant-for-Truth,” Brazilian folk song “Samba-Lel??,” traditional Irish song “Danny Boy” and “John the Revelator.” “Sicut Moses, serpentem” was accompanied by senior Brian White on the cello. There were four solos in “John the Revelator:” sophomore Daniel Muniz, junior Meredith O’Leary, senior Charles Feierabend and first-year Amanda Fernley.

The concert was overall very enjoyable. It was clear that much hard work and many long hours had gone into it – and it paid off.