What instruction could a Capital University police officer, two ESL (English as a second language) students, a library cataloger, a cantor and a graduate student in nursing offer a highly trained choir preparing for its annual choral Christmas festival?
Proper pronunciation, for one thing, when the choir will perform songs in 10 languages. Capital University's Chapel Choir is preparing for its sold-out Christmas Festival, which will be held Thursday, Nov. 30, through Sunday, Dec. 3, in Mees Hall. This year's theme is "Let all the World in every corner Sing!," and the demanding repertoire leaves no corner unvisited.
To help the choir prepare, choral director Lynda Hasseler tapped into a diverse community of resources to deepen her students' understanding of the music, its lyrics and the cultural traditions that surround each song.
"Ang Pagibig naghahari – pronounced Nah-gah-hadi. Translated it means love dominates all," Abigail A. Dela Peña told the choir one recent afternoon during rehearsal. A native of the Philippines, Dela Peña is earning her master's degree in nursing from Capital and agreed to help the choir with Tagalog, one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines.
The song is "Pasko Na Naman!," or "It's Christmas, again!" by Felipe P. de Leon, arranged by George G. Hernandez.
"When children go singing, they do this song because it's the easiest," Dela Peña teased. "We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year."
Sharing a laugh, the choir repeated the phrase, then the whole song. "Perfect," Dela Peña praised when the song ended, her eyes still closed. "On behalf of my countrymen, thank you. Back in the Philippines they don't sing it as pretty. I am so proud of you guys."
Her sentiment has been a recurring theme among those who have coached the choir in the various languages. Julio Papillon, a public safety officer at Capital, helped with Creole French (Haiti); ESL students Sangsik (Steve) Ahn and Woo Young (Tom) Jin assisted with Korean; Cantor Jack Chomsky of Congregation Tifereth Israel provided instruction on Hebrew; and Aija Bjornson, library cataloger at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, worked with the choir on Latvian.
"Without exception, all the coaches said if they closed their eyes they would have thought they were hearing a choir from their home country," Hasseler said. "Our hope is that as the choir performs this music during the festival, the cultural appreciation and understanding the choir has gained through its interaction with these members of our community will flow through them to the audience, uniting us all in gratitude for the diversity that enriches our lives."