By Slavislav Slavislavovich
As of last week, music students, professors, and staff had the pleasure of welcoming a new singer and choir member. After the hair-raising disappearance of the 18 previous choir singers, they are now thankfully replaced by a new singer 一 Mr. Eliot C. Oral
People who are associated with the ensemble and who have nothing to do with it seem to be quite happy with C. Oral’s appointment. “He just appeared one day at the conservatory like a blessing from the sky,” comments Dr. Kiera Galway, the choir director and professor of music education. “I have never heard about Mr. Oral but I’m glad that the [Music] Department was able to find someone willing to represent choral music at Mt. St. A,” said trombone and composition student James Laceby.
After hearing votes of confidence from the students and professors, we decided to take an interview with C. Oral and were able to get a few words from him about his experience, despite his busy schedule. “I have had many years of experience as a choral singer, conductor, director, piano accompanist, choral composer, tour manager, and costume designer, you can even say I’m something of a scientist myself,” excitedly shared C. Oral.
On the question of singing four to six choir parts all by himself, C. Oral assured us that he has a plan of action in mind already. “As someone who has sung as a bass, tenor, alto, and soprano in choirs for many years, I believe that I have enough experience to make everyone proud of the choir performances.”
Unfortunately, due to C. Oral’s busy schedule working on “elaborate and extraordinary repertoire for the upcoming choir concert” and his preference to “take [his] time to rehearse in proud solitude,” we were not able to visit any of the rehearsals.
As someone in charge of the choral directing and music education at the cuntservatory, Galway is quite fond of the experimental and totally planned initiative. “It was very interesting, from my part, to work on the new choir repertoire with Mr. Oral,” reflected Dr. Galway. “He showed a unique initiative in taking all the solo parts, as well as arranging the music, so I was freed from most of the work,” she continued.
To our reporter’s surprise and in contrast to other comments, Dr. James Kalyn, the director of the Symphonic band and the Chamber orchestra, is not as fond of Oral. “I just think that it’s not fair to me, especially with the amount of work I’m required to do conducting the orchestra and band. He might be the genius of our generation but it is just so unfair.”The unique and innovative idea of having one person as the entire choir lived up to everyone’s expectations. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to perform at the Brunton auditorium with the repertoire that myself and Dr. Galway picked out. The concert went very well, in my opinion,” C Oralshared. “In fact, I was so convinced of my skill and inevitable triumph that I served as my audience and gave myself a standing ovation,” he concluded.
Unexpectedly, posters with audition calls for the choir have been noticed around the Mt. St. A campus. Keep an eye on them if you would like to audition.
