The UCA Concert Choir and Chamber Singers presented their annual spring performance last night in Snow Fine Arts Center. 

The performance, “On a Journey through Song,” was directed by John Erwin, the UCA director of choral music.

The Chamber Singers performed first.  They sang three a capella pieces – “Ave Maria” by Jean Mouton, “Notre Pere” by Maurice Durufle and “Water Night” by Eric Whitacre. With the beginning of each piece, the audience could hear the collective inhale of the singers. The songs ended with a collective exhale when Erwin lowered his hands.

In May, the Chamber Singers will participate in an international competition in France.

After a small break, the Concert Choir, men in their tuxes and women in long black dresses that flowed as they walked, entered the Performance Hall. They sang nine pieces a cappella, including two movements from Bach’s “Jesu Meine Freude.” The performance featured a fugue of epic proportions.

Mezzo-Soprano Cassandra Hernadez was featured in a moving rendition of “Motherless Child.” For their final song, “Looking for a City,” the members broke the traditional decorum, clapping their hands and swaying to the rhythm of the gospel classic.

Erwin also recognized the graduating seniors in the choir, then led them through a choral arrangement of the school’s “Alma Mater.”