by Pombie Silverman

On Feb. 7, the West High choirs will perform with the Concert Orchestra 12 movements of Vivaldi’s Gloria Requiem.
According to choir director Ryan Pearson, the Masterworks concert is a major choral concert of the year that combines all of the choirs to engage in a mass work with the West High chamber orchestra. The concert is approximately half an hour long, composed of 12 different pieces. In addition, the West High Chorale and Concert choir will precede the Masterworks concert.
“Generally, I like the music that we perform,” said Alto II Concert Choir member Uma Balakrishnan ’13. “The music is always classical, but centers around a structure that makes more sense as opposed to contemporary music such as Eric Whitacre. Our music has a set text, feeling and composition. We are basically taking a musical formula and playing variations of it.”
According to Pearson, the choirs have prepared for this concert since the second week of December.
“We spend all of our class preparing for the concert by splitting off into sectionals and by working on two or three pieces a day,” Pearson said. “In addition, soloists work on their pieces at school or at home.”
According to Balakrishnan, Masterworks gives the underclassmen a new opportunity.
“Students are able to perform with older students that they look up to; they also sing with the opposite gender for the first time,” Balakrishnan said.
Pearson added, “[Gloria Requiem] is gratifying to practice due to its nature of effort and hard work. Many West graduates do not realize the opportunity given to them, but it is a type of choral literature not all high schoolers can execute.”