The Folk Choir will perform “Fratelli Tutti” in concert at 1 p.m. Saturday on Bond Quad. Students who plan on attending are encouraged to bring non-perishable foods with them, as it is a benefit concert for the South Bend Center for the Homeless. The concert is a collaboration with two other musical groups on campus, Voices of Faith Gospel Choir and Coro Primavera De Nuestra Señora, the Spanish liturgical choir.
The idea for this concert originated due to the unique circumstances of the pandemic. Normally during the fall, the Folk Choir chooses a Holy Cross Mission from around the world and hosts benefit concert for them. However, this year they opted to do something to benefit people in their own community, senior Folk Choir secretary Claire Whalen said.
“Instead of an admission fee, we’re asking students to donate non-perishable foods from the Huddle,” she said.
Senior Christina Minetos, social commissioner for the Folk Choir spoke to the eclectic set list for the upcoming concert.
“Being at Notre Dame, you get such a diversity of folks from all over the world, so this concert is an exploration of sacred music from different cultures,” Minetos said. “We’re presenting three gospel pieces with Voices of Faith, traditional Mexican and Mariachi style music with Coro Primavera and pieces from the Folk Choir library including German Romantic, Traditional Latin and Modern Contemporary music.”
The name of their concert, “Fratelli Tutti,” is derived from the Italian meaning “Brothers All” and speaks to the mission of the choir, which seeks to celebrate the diversity of the Catholic Church, Whalen said.
“We’re trying to honor the universality of the Church, but also the particularity of the different traditions within it, because each different culture offers something really beautiful to the liturgy,” she said.
The name is also a nod to the collaboration with Voices of Faith and Coro Primavera. Junior member of the Folk Choir Samuel De La Paz said one of the choir's missions is to bridge the divide between the campus choirs — as they all sing religious music, but still have their differences.
Due to this year's COVID-19 restrictions, the Folk Choir has been recording virtual choir videos for their social media. The members go into a recording booth set up in the Coleman Morse Center each week and record individual parts separately. The Folk Choir has a team of students that stitch together the audio recordings and another that conceptualizes and shoots the visuals to go along with the song.
“The ability for students to take ownership of their voices and go into the booth every week and record themselves in quite an intimidating setting has been amazing,” Dr. J.J. Wright, director of the Folk Choir said. “It has been great to see students come together in safe ways to continue our ministry even though we can’t sing in the Basilica.”
Initially, the Folk Choir did not think they would be able to put on any live concerts, however outdoor performances are a safe way to continue sharing their music.
“We’re very glad that we get to perform for the campus community live,” De La Paz said. “Students should come to hang out with friends and listen to some great music before it gets too cold.”
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