Overview:
The Vespers performance, a century-old tradition, will take place at Northfield Mount Hermon on Dec. 7, featuring a mix of choral and orchestral pieces from multiple student ensembles. The choir pieces will include a mix of songs performed at each show, as well as new pieces, including three movements of "Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir" by Bach, and "The Adoration of the Magi" by Timothy Stephens. The performance will also feature traditional Christmas carols and pieces by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail and Indonesian composer Ondi Yohan Tambunan. The show is open to the public and will be held in the Memorial Chapel on the campus of Northfield Mount Hermon.
Continuing the century-old tradition, the Vespers performance is returning to Northfield Mount Hermon in Gill on Sunday, Dec. 7.
For the 117th installment of this annual holiday performance, the show will feature a mixed program of choral and orchestral pieces from multiple student ensembles, including the Concert Choir, Select Treble Ensemble, NMH Singers and Chamber Orchestra. Matthew McClure will accompany the performance on piano. Alexandra Ludwig, director of choral activities, and Steven Bathory-Peeler, director of orchestras, will be conducting.
Ludwig explained in an interview that the choir pieces this year will feature a mix of songs performed at each show, like the opening song “Veni Emmanuel” and the closing piece, a German rendition of Silent Night — a favorite that has emerged amongst the students.
New pieces will also be featured this year. The choir and orchestra will perform three movements of “Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir” (We thank you, God, we thank you), Bach’s cantata. Students will also perform “The Adoration of the Magi” by Timothy Stephens, which features an opening piece sung in Gaelic with a violin solo by junior Eavan Connelly. Other songs include pieces by Indian American composer Reena Esmail and Indonesian composer Ondi Yohan Tambunan, with traditional Christmas carols performed as well.
“Our school loves presenting this program: the pageantry, the music, the readings, the candles,” Steven Bathory-Peeler, chair of NMH’s performing arts department, said in a press release about the show. “It is a wonderful way to usher in the holidays. As soon as we finish with our Vespers performances, students start looking forward to the next one.”
Outside of the music, students who’ve previously participated in ushering at events can be lamp lighters. These students are tasked with setting the ambiance of the space with lighting candles at the start of the performance that burn the entire show, until the singing of “Silent Night,” when they are extinguished, and the audience is left in the dark while the music continues, which Ludwig said is beautiful.
Ludwig said the Concert Choir, which is a non-audition choir open to all students, has around 50 participants this year, many of whom are fresh to the tradition of the Vespers show. Ludwig explained that students have been working on the music since October. To prepare students for the shows, she guides them with warmups and music-reading to aid newer singers as they learn the ropes.
“I spent the beginning of the semester teaching them the basics of music fundamentals and reading music, so there’s all of that technical preparation,” she said, adding that the honors groups learn slightly harder music, leading them into the joint rehearsals with the orchestra before the week of the show.
Admittedly, Ludwig said some students have felt that the music is challenging this year, especially the Bach piece with complex vocal runs while singing in German. Even still, she said students have made progress toward the opening of the show in a few weeks, especially those who’ve never performed in a Vespers show.
“You get to see their technical skills increase. You get to see their confidence increase,” she said, “And from going to not reading music, to singing a work by Bach is a really huge one. It’s a huge leap.”
Additionally, Ludwig said that while these students have improved their vocal skills ahead of the show, it also provides an opportunity for newer students to learn the tradition of the Vespers, and what it means for those coming to see the show.
“By the time that they’re done with this — a lot of them are doing it for the first time — they’ll really understand that they’ve contributed to this incredibly long tradition at the school,” Ludwig said. “I think that they’ll feel a greater sense of belonging to the history of the school and what we provide to the campus and to the outside people that come to the performance.”
This performance is open to the public, and registration is encouraged ahead of time by visiting https://tinyurl.com/trj7befn. The show will run at both 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, inside the Memorial Chapel on the campus of Northfield Mount Hermon, One Lamplighter Way. Donations are also accepted to benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
This tradition will then head to New York City in December at the St. George’s Episcopal Church, 4 Rutherford Place, sharing the music with those outside of the community. This performance will be help on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.