On Sunday, Oct. 16, the Mater Dei Choral Program proudly presented their first concert of the 2016-2017 school year at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach. This first concert, known as Fall Concert, was a major success, with all possible seats being filled and hallways being crowded with spectators enjoying what the choral program had to offer.

All six choirs, along with Mater Dei’s Handbell Ensemble, led by Amanda Bistolfo, rehearsed from the very beginning of the school year to the days leading up to the performance. Despite this daunting rehearsal schedule, freshman Aurora Ferrell did not feel intimidated when rehearsal time rolled about.

“[Rehearsal] was a lot less stressful than I expected,” said Ferrell. “[Cabaletta] was very prepared for both of our songs, and we had our songs under control.”

“The preparation and rehearsal process was very well-done,” said freshman, Casey Fort.

However, despite the overall smoothness of concert preparations, there were many small bumps and roadblocks that the choir program needed to overcome.

“At the beginning of the school year, there are a number of things that take up classroom time that does not allow us to fully devote all of our time to Fall Concert,” said Concert Choir, Bel Canto, and Kingsmen teacher Justin Miller. “Once we get the hang of how this new school year is going to go, we can only spend a few classes on Fall Concert music before we have to turn our attention to Family Mass. That makes getting the music together for Fall Concert a little stressful.”

By the time the concert rolled out, however, all of those trials and tribulations did not prevent the choir from trying their absolute best and ultimately giving the audience reason to look up to Mater Dei’s Choral Program.

“If I had to redo the concert … I don’t really know,” Fort said. “I just really liked how the concert went.”

“It was frustrating [that] in [class rehearsals] that a lot of people wouldn’t pay attention,” admitted Ferrell. “But I loved that, when we actually pulled ourselves together, it sounded really pretty.”

When asked about their favorite songs to conduct or sing, the responses have only illustrated the diverse palate of the choral program.

“My personal favorite was Dies Irae, [because] I personally love, like, the intense meaning and all that [the song] says,” said freshman Dario Rimicci. “It’s, really, if you translate the Latin [in the song], it’s, like, brimstone and hell and fire and the end of world.”

Fall Concert was by no means a perfect concert, but it was a great start to school year full of music, and gave freshmen and new choir members a taste of what was to come in the future.

“Fall Concert is something that shows the beginning ground…how all choirs start. It’s like the base level…it’s what people should expect for next time,” Fort said.