It takes awhile before I clue in. But yeah, those lyrics are familiar, even the swagger of the singers. Could members of the acclaimed Dalhousie Chamber Choir really be wrapping their tongues around Beyonceās Single Ladies?
Cause if you liked it then you should have put a ring on it/If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it/Donāt be mad once you see that he want it ā¦
Sung in bombastic, operatic style, the song is performed like an argument between the sexesāthe womenās voices sweet and high, the menās like low thunder. Single Ladies is a far cry from the choirās usual classical choral repertoire.
āIt started as a bit of a joke,ā explains Maria Murphy, a fourth-year music student majoring in voice. āWeāve got this pop concert coming up and we were throwing around crazy song titles when Single Ladies came up. We didnāt actually think heād do it.ā
āHeā is Gary Ewer, director of the Dalhousie Chamber Choir. He arranged the song āas if Schubert or Brahms had composed it,ā he explains, during a break in rehearsals. āWeāre having a bit of fun; itās presented as a spoof.ā
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The next concert, Body & Soul, will be performed on both sides of Halifax Harbour: at St. Andrewās United Church in Halifax on Friday, March 19 and at Grace United Church in Dartmouth on Saturday, March 20. Besides Single Ladies, other songs on the program include Light My Fire by The Doors, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, A Groovy Kind of Love and an arrangement of the Mika song Any Other World by student composer Michael Robson.
āThese students are such good vocalists that you can expect a high level of performance from them,ā says Mr. Ewer, who teaches aural perception and music theory at pilipiliĀž». He also directs the Dalhousie Coro Collegium, a much larger choral ensemble comprised of students and community singers. āItās such a pleasure working with them.ā
The respect is mutual. āHeās pretty enthusiastic. He likes to joke around but heās serious when he has to be,ā says Ms. Murphy, from Saint John, N.B.
āAnd anyway,ā she adds with a laugh. āItās been fun to hear him say, āOK, take it from āIām up on him, he up on me.āā