Celebrating 125 years of NGU with our Saviour
Abigail Welch, Staff Writer
The North Greenville University Cline School of Music will present “Saviour: The Story of God’s Passion for His People,” a modern oratorio by Greg Nelson and Bob Farrell, on Sunday, March 25 at 7 p.m. at Fairview Baptist Church in Greer. This oratorio has a powerful setting that tells the story of God’s passion for His people, from creation through the resurrection.
An oratorio is similar in form to an opera. There will be solos, duets, trios and choral selections for the voice. Also, there are several portions for the orchestra alone. The choir will be a collaboration of the NGU Concert Choir, alumni and area church choirs. The main difference between an oratorio and an opera is the production is not staged as a play with costumes and sets. It is sung in a concert style.
Cheryl Greene, the production manager, wanted to provide an opportunity for our alumni and volunteers from our faculty, staff and community to participate in a powerful work of music based on God’s Word. She found that the best way to provide this opportunity was by using “Saviour” to launch the university’s 125 Anniversary celebration.
Soloists for the performance will be Bill Blount, Justin Garrett, Mark Eshenbaugh, Caleb Ruppe and Stephanie White Osorio. Each soloist was selected by Greene personally. The five soloists are graduates form the Cline School of Music at NGU. Each soloist is currently employed using the degree they earned while attending NGU.
In preparing for the oratorio, the concert choir and the orchestra have been rehearsing on campus during their regular class times. Greene has been coaching the soloists in private sessions in the past several weeks, even using FaceTime to coach with Stephanie White Osorio in New York. The volunteer choir has been meeting for the past nine weeks at Fairview Baptist Church to rehearse. The first joint rehearsal of choir, orchestra and soloists was held on Monday, March 19. The dress rehearsal will be on Saturday, March 24 at Fairview Baptist.
Helping add another element to the production, Mary Erny and Eddie Fisher are using video to enhance the story you will be hearing by the soloist, choir and orchestra. The video footage was compiled by Joe LaPenna at North Hills Church for a production of Saviour in 2007. Erny has updated artwork used behind the verse slides that go between the videos.
“Using video along with a live production is always challenging due to the variables in tempo. It takes a dedicated effort on the part of the conductor to keep the tempos to the timing of the video and the careful attention of the video technician to know music,” added Greene.
Greene went on to say that, “We hope to provide an opportunity for our student and faculty body to celebrate the story of our Saviour and for our guests to hear the Gospel in a powerful form of art.”
This is a free concert for the community, however donations will be accepted for the Cline School of Music.
