The Rowan University Choir held its annual spring concert this past Saturday, the music evoking heavy emotions and themes throughout the entire performance. 

On Saturday, March 7, the Rowan University Choir performed “Light After Rain: Music In The Wake Of Humanity” – with different sections titled “Justice and Light,” “Desperation and Plea,” “Rupture and Reckoning,” and “Listening and Renewal,” all introduced by a piano solo by Eddie Ojard. 

The music as a whole follows a journey from rupture to renewal. The performance opened with Randall Thomson’s radiant setting of 2 Samuel, followed by Henry Purcell’s intimate cry from Psalm 102. The heart of the performance was Arturo Tapia-Minchez’s “Disquieted Prayers” piece. The music contrasts the ancient psalmists’ declarations of divine justice with the realities of human violence and moral failings, moving from devotional certainty to theological questioning, concluding with a conditional Hallelujah rooted in ethical action.

“I want to write a piece that’s bringing awareness to what’s happening in Gaza and Palestine … Because it’s terrible things that are happening by people who share a common identity and a common religion with me,” said Arturo Tapia-Minchez, a junior with a double major in composition and voice performance, as well as the creator of main “Disquieted Prayers” piece. 

“Disquieted Prayers” included four sections – “The Bliss of Prayerful Apathy,” “Realization of Self,” “Sackcloth and Ashes,” and “The Great Hallelujah.” This choir and soloist, Amber Miller, takes you through this piece, going from praising God to questioning him in reflection to the violence happening, ending with prayers directed towards ethical responsibility. 

Graduated with their music education degree and soloist of the piece, Amber Miller said that when they were first asked about participating in the piece, they were nervous to accept, but quickly changed their mind when listening to and looking at the music. 

“Yeah, that night, he sent it to me, and I’m looking at the music, and I’m listening … And I was like, I have to do this. It really touched me,” said Miller. 

“The Rupture” and “Reckoning” category with the “Disquieted Prayers” piece was concluded with Alex Berko’s “Sacred Place,” an interwoven piece of poetry and prayer drawing on Wendell Berry and John Muir. William Stafford, Jewish Tradition, and Rabindranath Tagore. Following the previous intense piece, it acts as the quiet that follows lament, and light returning as an invitation to justice, humility, and sacred renewal.

To end the piece, Conductor Christoper Thomas wanted to end with a sense of purpose and hope to follow the powerful piece by Tapia-Minchez of leadership and truth. Having been brought the piece by Tapia-Minchez, Thomas was immediately stunned at the music and gave the green light to finish the piece for the choir. 

“I would say I got a little emotional at one point because I recognized how significant the risk was that he took in taking on such a significant story. I mean, that’s pretty bold, and he did it. To me, I thought it worked,” said Thomas. 

The audience felt the intense emotions and were moved by the choir and the music that was performed. Much of the story in the music brought about the harsh realities of the world today, the performance bringing together themes of questioning and hope. 

“It encouraged people to look further into themselves, and not be as unaware,” said Avery Torres, an audience member at the concert. 

While many people may not have been able to directly relate to the performance, the piece resonated with many of the audience members Saturday night. This was apparent in conversations happening outside of the hall after the performance, many commenting on how amazing the performance was. It’s not always the case that a student is able to have their own music performed by the choir, making this specific concert quite special.