Choir delivers rousing concert

We know all too well these days what men sound like at war. We know what they sound like as politicians and leaders and moralists. What we perhaps don’t hear enough of at the moment is the sound of men’s voices lifted together in song.

Cantus Choir, a vocal chamber ensemble from Minnesota, is on a mission to champion male choral singing. As part of Arcady Music Festival’s winter concert series, the 10-man group performed two hours of a cappella music Monday at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bangor. The pieces were, in turn, encouraging, inspiring, ample and polished.

Established in 1995 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., the student singers stuck together after graduation and have quickly developed into a full-time professional ensemble with a reputation for finely crafted choral literature including art songs, spirituals, chants and early music. While in Maine, the group is singing and traveling to schools to share its love of music and unusual camaraderie with young audiences.

Last night’s concert, which will be repeated tonight in Dover-Foxcroft and tomorrow in Belfast, consisted of Christmas music from around the world. The program included many well-known tunes – among them “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Away in a Manger” – but Cantus has such a broad range of interests and talents that it also presented a rousing Nigerian carol, a harmonically complex English hymn, a Finnish chant, an Appalachian song, and contemporary choral works.

It would be easy enough to explain the drifting vocal tonalities, elasticity of rhythms, and the deep and round notes that powered forth from these men’s throats, all of which gave this concert texture and triumph. But the truth is, Cantus has a merry talent, one that emanates from each beat and pulses as the group breathes in union. These men love singing together, and this shared passion infuses the work whether in a singalong of “The First Noel,” a funky “Deck the Halls,” or the heavenly strains of “O Magnum Mysterium.”

In the second half of the concert, 12-year-old violinist Nina Monfredo, a Melba Wilson Arcady Youth Competition winner, delivered a mature reading of the first movement of Charles-Auguste de Beriot’s Concerto No. 9 in A minor, with graceful accompaniment by pianist Patricia Stowell. Their performance nicely complemented an evening that was already on a festive and praiseworthy roll.

Arcady Music Festival will present Cantus Men’s Choir, 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Congregational church in Dover-Foxcroft, and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at the First Baptist Church in Belfast. For information or tickets, call 288-2141 or 288-9500.