The Chamber Singers performed at the annual Cathedral Christmas Concert at the St. Fidelis Cathedral in Victoria. This year’s concert was performed on Sunday, Dec. 4.

The choirs of Fort Hays State University (Fort Hays Singers, Concert Choir) were joined by the Smoky Hill Chorale, Chamber Singers and the TMP Singers. The FHSU Brass Choir, FHSU Flute Ensemble, Kay Werth, Tom Meagher and visiting scholar Yanqing Xing were also involved in the festive concert.

Senior Hayden Sillmon is one of four students who have participated in Chamber Singers for three years.

“The Cathedral Concert is always something we look forward to,” Sillmon said.

This year, the Chamber Singers were conducted by Dr. Terry Crull, instead of music instructor Johnny Matlock.

“It was a little strange since we’re all so used to having Mr. Matlock,” junior Shelby Knoll said. “But, I think we all pulled together and the music still sounded great.”

A combined choir piece, “Ding Dong Merrily On High”, featured the Chamber Singers and the Fort Hays Singers.

“The combined piece was hard,” Knoll said. “We had very little time to rehearse it and it was very complicated to read, but I think it went a lot better than we expected it to.”

“Ave Maria” and “In the Moon of Wintertime” were two of the songs the Chamber Singers performed at the concert by themselves.

“My favorite piece was ‘In the Moon of Wintertime’,” junior Kayla Satomi said. “Performing at the Cathedral Concert is such a great opportunity.”

Satomi said she loves the way the cathedral amplifies every sound.

“Our voices ring for so many seconds after we end a song,” Satomi said. “It’s really beautiful.”

Senior Eric Rorstrom agrees.

“The cathedral is one of the best places to sing,” Rorstrom said. “The sound fills the entire space. We’ve all worked so hard on our songs and I’m glad it paid off.”

Gallery • 8 Photos

The TMP Singers perform at the Cathedral Concert for the first time.