Student Concert Moves Audience with Music of the Triduum

Marking the year’s last concert in the St. Vincent de Paul Lecture and Concert Series, the Thomas Aquinas College, New England, Choir and Orchestra gave a meditative, profound performance of Paschal selections on Friday evening. 

Student choir director Matthew Santos (NE’26) introduced the concert with a brief explanation of the order and thought behind the selected music. “The pieces are unified under the formality of a meditation on Christ’s Passion and Resurrection,” he said. The repertoire followed a progression of mood, beginning with somber, heavy music for the Passion, then switching to a joyous character by the end of the concert, signifying Christ’s triumphant Resurrection.

The concert began with Albinoni’s mellow “Adagio in G Minor” by the orchestra; the choir joined in with the piercingly poignant “Stabat Mater” and the “Ave Verum Corpus.” Succeeding these were a few pieces by Bach and Buxtehude, in which many students gave beautiful solos. The audience, provided with English translations of the Latin pieces, followed along with the words of Bach’s Oratorios and St. John’s Passion as the pieces were performed, meditating on Christ’s sacrifice. 

As the tone changed to the jubilant and victorious music of the Resurrection, the entire audience stood for the performance of Handel’s Hallelujah from “The Messiah,” and rose again to give a standing ovation after the final piece, “Worthy is the Lamb.” 

“It was such a moving performance,” said Levi Smail (NE’29). “I was incredibly impressed with the fruits of their effort — the concert was beautiful.”