The sound of Gators

November 14, 2014

Some of the University of Florida’s finest voices recently traveled to Buga, Colombia, to participate in Corpacoros’ International Choral Week 2014.

This marks the second year Will Kesling has been invited to present a choir at the festival, which celebrates international and Colombian choral groups with concerts, master classes and demonstrations.
This year’s group from UF was called “The Voices of Orpheus,” which is based on the mythological character of Orpheus, who calmed the beasts and tamed the wild heart of Hades to save his love Eurydice from death. The group was composed of 20 men from Kesling’s Concert Choir.

“Each day after our work was done, there was always singing, dancing and general celebration to be had in the lobby of our open-air hotel and even out in the streets,” said graduate voice student Joshua Mazur. “You didn’t have to dance well, you just had to dance, and you were at home!”

One of the students’ favorite experiences of the festival included a performance at a local high school where the choir sang a program filled with all-American men’s choir favorites.

“The students went crazy for us, asking for pictures and for all of us to sign any and every little scrap of paper they had on them,” said Mazur. “I couldn’t think of anything to write them in Spanish, so I simply wrote ‘Bailar y Cantar Siempre!’ which translates to ‘Dance and Sing Always!’”