Lorelai Gango/The Mossy Log
On Friday, Feb. 13, the Lewis & Clark Music Department hosted their 18th annual (Anti)Valentine’s Concert. The concert is a collaboration between the choir ensembles, student a cappella club Kith & Kin and solo performances by students.
I spoke with Visiting Professor of Music John Cox, who is the conductor of the Voces Auream treble choir, about what the (Anti)Valentine’s concert is about. True to its name, Cox said the concert is meant to rebel against traditional, rose-tinted depictions of love.
“The (Anti)Valentine’s Concert is an exploration of both the good and bad signs of love,” Cox said. “It is a chance for people to be singing songs which are kind of the Hollywood, fairytale version, but also presenting ideas of love that represent the more toxic side or more frustrating side of that.”
The concert opened with a guitar piece performed by LC alum Max Krien ’23. From there, Krien accompanied the Voces choir for their opening performance, “My Angel” by Adrianne Lenker, arranged by Cox and Krien. Soloists Aviva Meisel ’29, Jo LaPlaca ’29 and Kate Schirmer ’28 sang the beautiful melody, while the rest of the choir joined in during the chorus. The choir moved around the stage at various times during the song, from standing in front of the stage, to behind Krien, who was seated in the center, and by the end of the song the choir stood in front of him, as they repeated the refrain “my angel, my angel” while the guitar faded out.
Voces then moved straight into the song “Labor” by Paris Paloma. A jarring shift in tone from “My Angel,” this performance was characterized by intense, bold vocals accompanied by performers stomping to the beat with a featured solo from Hazel Morton ’28.
Cox detailed how he ended up including “Labor” in the performance, discovering it from one of his CORE class students.
“Last semester, I taught CORE and my class was on music and social critique, and I asked the students to argue for a song that they thought should be included in the syllabus,” Cox explained, “and my student Reesa White ’29 wrote a paper and gave an in-class presentation on this song. And I was just so impressed by the song and by Reesa’s analysis on it that I decided to have it arranged for this concert.”
After the Voces performance, soloist Brodie Joseph ’26 performed “If I Loved You” from the musical “Carousel.” Joseph’s deep baritone filled the space with emotion, paired with dynamic facial expressions. He was accompanied by piano instructor and staff accompanist Stephanie Thompson on piano.
Next, the Community Chorale — a choir open to any students, faculty, staff, alumni and the local public — performed “In My Life” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Various soloists stepped in to sing the verses, and the whole choir performed the chorus.
The Community Chorale then performed “I Hold Your Hand in Mine” by Tom Lehrer, a humorous song that begins as an innocuous love song but quickly takes a deadly turn as it is revealed that the singer is holding the disembodied hand of their dead lover. During this performance, which had an upbeat call-and-response style, performers passed between themselves a plastic hand, eliciting laughter from the audience.
Cox explained that the (Anti)Valentine’s Concert is a chance for the choirs to step outside the confines of traditional choral music.
“We are, as they say, loosening our ties. The choirs get a chance to do something a little less serious, maybe a little satirical, and we don’t often see that in the choir concert. So for the performance as well, it’s unique,” he said.
This uniqueness was certainly felt in the performances, particularly “I Hold Your Hand in Mine.”
Next was a solo performance by Kate Schirmer ’28, who sang “Wish I Was a Single Girl Again” by Tia Blake. Schirmer played guitar as well, embracing the folksy, country feel of the song.
Rounding out the soloists was Nico Vilches ’26. Vilches performed “In Dreams” from the song cycle “Songs of Travel” by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The performance was dramatic and similar to Joseph’s earlier performance, also accompanied by Thompson’s piano.
Kith & Kin performed two songs next. First was “Green Light” by Lorde. Soloist Jane Moore’s ’29 moody vocals were eerily reminiscent of Lorde’s voice, and she was accompanied well by the rest of the group.
Kith & Kin’s second song was “Sweater Weather” by The Neighborhood, which allowed the lower voices to shine. There was a clear love for the song that shone through in the energetic performance from the group.
The final songs of the night were performed by Capella Nova, LC’s mixed choir. First they sang “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” by David Mann. This was the most traditional choral piece performed all night. It was slow, like a lullaby, with a solo by Willow Rueckert-Gardner ’27.
Finally, Capella Nova performed an arrangement of “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. Choir members used instruments like tambourines, cowbells, a triangle and drumsticks to accompany their singing. The performance was fun, upbeat and silly, and at one point conductor Katherine FitzGibbon turned to the audience to get them to clap along with the rhythm. Four performers did cartwheels before the choir struck a dramatic pose to end the concert.
Cox believes that the (Anti)Valentine’s performance is an embodiment of LC students’ spirit.
“(The concert is) a chance for people who are anti-love or… the kind of common view of love, people who want to be able to speak against that, in some way, it gives voice to that. And so I think there’s a rebelliousness and an inquisitiveness at the heart of this concert, which explains why it resonates so well with Lewis & Clark students,” Cox said.
Cox’s assessment of the (Anti)Valentine’s Concert rang true. Evans Auditorium was packed with students excited to engage with the music being performed. The theater was buzzing with energy as the concert let out, a testament to the skill and love put into the night. The Anti-Valentine’s Concert was an entertaining night filled with lovers and haters alike, and I would highly recommend going to next year’s performance to anyone wanting to celebrate Valentine’s Day a little differently.
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