Gerds/Review: ‘Choral Masterworks’ = Weidner fireworks

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Youth had its say Tuesday night at the Weidner Center – and so, certainly, did age.Kent Paulsen of the Dudley Birder Chorale put together a kind of “hits” concert for an entourage of performers nearly 250 strong.It can’t be said the effort filled the house, but the sound surely did. The first notes bolted from the stage, making sure everybody’s attention was grabbed.

…The concert was performed in a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay facility, but it was a definite product of St. Norbert College, especially notably in “Requiem.” From the music department: Kent Paulsen on the conductor’s podium, soprano Yi-Lan Niu, alto Linda Feldmann and bass Michael Rosewall, with tenor Benjamin Olejniczak a St. Norbert graduate. Throughout the performers on stage were students of and graduates of St. Norbert, which has had music on its mind since 1898.

So, “Requiem” expresses a passing of a life and a passage that’s humbling and wrenching and wondrous it its release, and it was performed with grandeur. For many, the concert and that work will hold a special place in time.

Source: Gerds/Review: ‘Choral Masterworks’ = Weidner fireworks