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[music]
hmm
hmm
hmm
I am sitting here wanting
memories to teach me
to see the beauty
in the world through my own
eyes
yes I am sitting here wanting
memories to teach me
to see the beauty in the world
through my own eyes
you used to rock me in the cradle of your arms
you said you'd hold me till the pains of life were gone
you said you'd comfort me in times like these and now I need now I need you and you are gone
>> Laura Sullivan: Cantus is acclaimed for its trademark warmth and engaging performances of
music from the Renaissance to the 21st century.
The men's vocal ensemble based in Minneapolis-St. Paul
performs more than 60 times a year throughout the United States.
Aaron Humble, a tenor, is in his ninth season with Cantus.
Humble talks with the Center for the Performing Arts' Christie Black
about how the singers work without a conductor to create the Cantus
repertoire.
Humble also discusses how their U.S. tours have helped to build a program
reflecting the identity we share
as Americans. >> Christie Black: You describe yourselves as chamber musicians
instead of a choir. Can you tell me a little more about what it's like to perform
without a director?
>> Aaron Humble: When an audience sees
a group of singers together, you automatically think choir
you think of choir, you think of conductor.
Chamber music is not something that you find
terribly often in vocal music and that's part of what makes Cantus
unique.
We rehearse and perform without a conductor or a music director
and function somewhat like, you'd think of very similar to a string quartet
but of course we are using our voices as out instruments.
We sing a broad range of music and always
program concerts to have some sort of a narrative or
a theme, so it's really a unique concert experience
for the audience. >> Christie: You mention going into a theme for each show. How do you go
about choosing what that theme will be?
>> Aaron: Well it starts with a discussion,
and that discussion actually happens with the whole company, so the nine singers,
as well as our administration, who work in the Cantus
office here in Minneapolis. So we sit down and
we talk about what themes might be
relevant for the upcoming concert season. For example, this year
the program that we'll be performing at Penn State
is about an American identity, it's called
A Place for Us and it's about the search for home
and how we find what feels like home to us
and how we've all done that here in the United States.
But what is it about
being an American that makes an American identity?
A Place for Us that line comes from Leonard Bernstein's
Somewhere, which is a piece that sort of
bookends the concert. That song really encapsulates
the hope and the search that many immigrants feel when they
come to the Unites States or go to any
land where they are seeking new places and new opportunities.
>> Christie: You travel to more than 35 cities last year,
and 60 shows annually. How is it that you, with your own life as well as
those of the group,
balance what you find as home, and what you find is
important from where you live to being on the road and sharing your
message with others?
>> Aaron: Being in Minnesota, obviously we have a lot of winter. [laughter]
getting away
from that is a great benefit of the job.
But it also allows us to see
how other people live and make their lives in parts of the country
that are very different.
One concert that stands out to me is
the first time we went to a small coastal town
in Oregon. It's just a tiny little town
and practically the whole town shows up
for a concert when there's one there. And the concert is in this little
tiny chapel, in a camp, and the chapel will actually be stuffed
full of people, people even
standing, but even stuffed full is only something like
150 or 200 people, and there's just something so special about that
experience, plus the coast of Oregon is such a beautiful place
and so very different than Minnesota
that it gave me great appreciation for their lives there.
>> Christie: I noticed that you also perform with other
performing arts organizations, I saw the Boston Pops on your list as well as
Minnesota Orchestra.
Could you tell me a little bit more about the groups you're involved with?
>> Aaron: Well, I start with the
education piece, because it's a piece that's so important to Cantus
one of the values we
hold close to us is that accessibility
and of bringing music to people where they are.
So here in Minnesota, we work with three high schools every year
where we're in residence for the entire year.
We sing a concert for
the students and we go and we work with their choirs
throughout the year and then bring the three schools together
for a festival and a concert. Each year that we do that we try to
bring an urban, rural, and a suburban school
so that we're also bringing students from very different walks of life
together. And
that can be a real eye-opening experience, but the thing that bonds them
together
is their love of music. That's part of the work we will
be doing at Penn State as well. We'll have the opportunity to do a lot of outreach
with the different groups
throughout the university and the community while we're there, and that just allows us to have a
much richer experience
in the community as well. So we don't just sort of blow through town
for a concert, and only see you know
500 to 1000 people and we're out the door.
But that opportunity to dig in and
experience a greater section of the community, I think
is very rewarding. >> Christie: What drew you in to wanting to do this for your life?
>> Aaron: Well I started my musical
career singing in high school choir like so many
students do and it really inspired me
then I went on to Millikin University in in Illinois which has a great
performing arts program and they're very well known for their
choir as well and I remember the experience of hearing
that ensemble for the first time and being
sort of overwhelmed by the
complexity of the sound of all those voices together
and singing at such a high level.
And then I went on to Indiana University, which is known
of course for being an opera school,
where my focus was really solo singing
and the at the end of my time at Indiana I was
auditioning for jobs and looking around and I saw an audition notice for
Cantus and I thought, now that sounds interesting
it's a full-time job with a salary, benefits and
403(b) retirement plan
and as a musician that's not something that
vocalists are used to finding, you know in many ways our job
it structured like an orchestra
it's a full time gig.
>> Christie: you have over more than fourteen albums out right now including the latest one,
Song
of Czech. Which one is your favorite and why?
>> Aaron: Oh boy! Well I have different favorites for different reasons
but if I could only choose one, I would say my favorite would be
That Eternal Day and that is because
I have a great love for American music,
especially for early American singing, sacred harp, shape note
singing, the music of William Billings and
that is an album that is both sacred and spiritual in nature.
And it really, for me, encapsulates
a unique American sound. But on the other hand, Song of Czech is
a terrific album that is looking at
some of the European masters, we're talking Janacek
and some music that has not been recorded
before in the United States and music that is not sung terribly often, so I am
thrilled to to get that out for public consumption as well.
>> Laura: Cantus performs A Place for Us
April 1st, 2014 at Penn State's Pasquerilla Spiritual Center.
For tickets or information visit cpa.psu.edu
or phone 1-800-ARTS-TIX.