In a generation where the news is filled with endless conflicts, the Shippensburg University Orchestra and the SU Concert Choir combined forces to present “Peace in Time of War.”

“Not only do we get to have a really large orchestra, which is lots of fun,” orchestra director Mark Hartman said to audience members, “This is the first time I’ve been here that we’ve ever worked with the choir.”

Typically, the department of music and theatre arts of SU presents separate concerts for the SU Orchestra and the SU Concert Choir.

However, this spring, Hartman and Elizabeth Shoenfelt, music professors at SU, decided to collaborate on Sunday in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center.

The concert began with the orchestra performing “Peace Overture,” by Russell Peck.

As instruments gradually twinkled in, a gentle, soft tune took form.

However, once instruments came to life, there was an eerie feeling in the theater. Slowly, the song built up before reaching a repetitive section and then silence. The song continued going back and forth between the two opposites before finally coming to a halt.

As the stage was adjusted for the second half of the show, Hartman turned to face the audience and provided some context. He told the audience that, although the words in the songs do not specifically talk about war, the use of timpani conjures the idea of war.

The break between sets was also used to acknowledge the seniors leaving. Hartman commended them and the other SU Orchestra students for sticking with orchestra even though it is not a major on campus. All students, community members and facility members involved do it voluntarily and solely for the love of music.

After Orchestra President Allison McEwen thanked all who contributed to the concert, the four professional solo vocalists appeared on stage in tuxedos and ball gowns.

Among the vocalists was Shoenfelt, who sang soprano. Shoenfelt worked as an assistant chorus master (performing assistant to the conductor) for the Harrisburg Opera and is a music professor at both SU and Wilson College. She also maintains a private vocal studio and directs the Susquehanna Young Women’s Chorale.

Singing mezzo-soprano alongside Shoenfelt was Leah Serr. Serr has performed in the Sarasota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Knoxville Opera and Central City Opera. She also sings with several other orchestras.

Christyan Seay sang tenor. Seay has performed extensively throughout central Pennsylvania, as well as abroad in locations like Weill Recital Hall in New York City and Smetena Hall in Prague, Czech Republic.

Pulling all three voices together was bass soloist James Barciz. Barciz is currently a senior at SU, majoring in French. He was accepted into the SU Concert Choir and also became a member of the Shippensburg Symphony Festival Chorus, a select ensemble of 25 professional singers. In addition to singing for SU, Barciz was chosen as a soloist and member of the Madrigal Singers, where he sang at Cathedral Notre-Dame de Bayeux and La Madeleine in Paris.

Having the choir sing along with the orchestra added an extra element to the concert. The concert choir and four soloists would continually battle back and forth and echo one another during the song “Missa in Tempore Belli,” which can be translated to “Mass in Time of War.”

“Mass in Time of War,” written by Franz Joseph Haydn in 1796, was a response to the French Revolution. Haydn applied sounds of the timpani to imitate the noise of cannons firing.

While the opera-like singing added an element of sadness, the song was overall peaceful and uplifting. At times, it felt like the audience was teleported to an old-fashioned carousel, rather than to a battlefield.

The journey came to an end as silence erupted in the theater and the two musical groups’ hard work over the semester came to a close.

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