Kendall Aronson, Campus Carrier Asst. Arts & Living Editor

Andrea Hill | CAMPUS CARRIER

The Orpheus Men’s Ensemble from Atlanta performed in Frost Chapel this past Sunday.

The Orpheus Men’s Ensemble performed at Berry on Sunday afternoon. The ensemble is made up of 27 men from the North Georgia and Atlanta area who meet together and perform several times a year. 

The choir began with 17 members in the group, and is currently in its third season. It has been touring at various other venues throughout Georgia for the past few months. 

Paul Neal, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, has been in the choir for two years. He co-directs the ensemble with two other educators in the area. They asked him to participate as a director two seasons ago. He additionally sings in the ensemble. 

Neal said that this is a great opportunity for his students to see him perform in a similar choir to that in which they are taught.

“We work very hard with our choirs here and I was very excited for our choir students to see what hard work can do,” Neal said. 

The concert was held in Frost Chapel. The heat was not working, but Neal said there was a good turnout and response from the audience, and that a lot of people really enjoyed it.

“It was cold, but I think our music warmed everyone up,” Neal said. “It warmed their hearts.”

The choir sang for an hour, harmonizing and filling the space with their music. Some of their songs were more well-known, such as “Drunken Sailor” and “Loch Lomond.” 

“I definitely gained an appreciation for male choirs,” junior Nicole Harris said. “I hadn’t expected there to be so much pitch range with all male voices. I enjoyed the different tone a choir of male voices produced.”

The performance held a lot of variety. They featured pieces from many different countries and in many different languages such as German and Russian, and another song which was composed entirely of nonsensical words. 

“The music was very calming,” sophomore Karina Rangel said. “It was a good way to destress.”

The choir incorporated humor into their performance as well. “The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard” had the audience laughing and absorbed in the storytelling of the piece. There were also comedic parts to the piece “Sarah.”

“I’m glad that Berry supports the arts,” Neal said.