A Semper-ternal Beginning

Posted on stairwells and on walls throughout the school are messages of clubs seeking out fresh faces, new names, and raw talent. Among the mix of different vocal groups and long-standing clubs is Semper, a newly-formed choral music club led by seniors Grace McManus and Alex Whittington. Behind its unique name are stories that propel the spirit of its members.

Semper is Latin for “always,” and to Whittington, that word in a language that has transcended time describes music perfectly. “When I discovered choral music, it was this massive collection of the human experience over centuries and even millennia. [Always] defines humanity in a sense. It’s everlasting, it’s sempiternal, it’s ongoing, and I feel like that applies to the music,” he said.

The members didn’t expect to develop a profound interest in choral music. Coming to Stuyvesant provided the opportunity of taking a chorus class. Whittington and member of the Semper board, senior Milo Rosengard, auditioned together, having been in the same art appreciation class.

Rosengard has been playing the piano since he was four but didn’t express a serious interest toward singing until he started chorus. “We meet every day, and the caliber of what we sing and the level at which we sing it were a lot higher than anything I had experienced before,” he said. Chorus, now subdivided into the groups Madrigal, Oratorio, and Concert, introduced a greater range of chamber music and singing techniques. Rosengard added, “I was very good at sight-singing and took several advanced theory courses. Being around Ms. [Holly] Hall and Ms. [Liliya] Shamazov definitely helped me improve because not only do they teach right notes and rhythms, they focus on posture and how to project your voice.”

One of the transformative moments for Whittington was singing Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa de Requiem during the second semester of freshman year. Up until that point, chorus was mainly a way for meeting people. But to be able to sing music that required hours of work on just one measure but ultimately produced an astounding sound was what affected him the most. “I somehow got blessed with this amazing opportunity to perform possibly one of the greatest choral masterpieces that has ever existed. That altered me on an emotional and personal level,” he said. “The sentiments and the feelings that were evoked as a result of me forming a part of the choir that went to Carnegie Hall—that launched me into my fascination with choral music,” he said. It’s amazing how the requiem carried raw human emotions over centuries to inspire people today.

Before Semper became official, it was just McManus and Whittington performing in subways and plazas. They wanted to extend their passion and what they enjoyed doing to a more publicized and larger community. One memorable recollection was when they sang Verdi’s Dies Irae. They had attempted to condense a four-voice, polyphonic piece into a two-voice piece. The reduction from a full-sized choir to just two people singing might have appeared to others as odd and a bit sad, but in that moment, it was exhilarating.

Whittington’s passion for music and desire to form a larger community are what motivated him to create Semper. He explained, “It’s definitely become something so near and dear to my heart, as a result of that one experience. I wouldn’t even put a label on it; it’s just something I enjoy doing so much and I love that it’s a part of me. I wanted to extend this feeling to a larger community, and as an individual, I also really like meeting new people and seeing what’s out there.” Every experience mirrored their earlier performances, even if they had to move to where no one could hear them and busy New Yorkers kept on walking.

As they started to bring in more people, through recruiting chorus members and featuring the club throughout the school, what started out as a recreational activity grew into something more along the lines of a family.

During auditions, the leaders conducted similar exercises to those done in chorus auditions. Rosengard said, “We looked for good singers. We did scales, arpeggios, and pitch matching where I play a short pattern or melody and the person has to repeat it back.” One exercise, called pitch integrity, was nicknamed “torture” because the singer had to sustain a note while other notes were being sung. Through these rigorous exercises, the board recruited several well-experienced members to kickstart the club off into the new school year.

Rehearsals would most likely involve sectionals, where the different voice groups would divide and learn their parts of a piece. Tentatively speaking, the group plans on performing at Brookdale Senior Living across the street from Stuyvesant. McManus and Whittington plan on putting together a Christmas program for the holiday season. Whittington revealed, “The Christmas music spans from the more pop songs, like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, to traditional Latin songs that have been adapted for the 21st century. The holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year, so we’re trying to create a program that is evocative of sentiments of peace, joy, and renewal.”

Already, the seniors of the club are fast-forwarding to the future when they will eventually leave for college. There is an inexplicable and mutual understanding among the members that undoubtedly maintains and propels Semper. Whittington said, “I feel like the sense of family and community is something that is ‘always’ or will always last. I’m a senior, and I’m going off to college next year, but I feel like this is something I’ll always keep with me.”

As for their legacy in Stuyvesant, there is no hint of doubt of what will happen. Taking into account several factors, Rosengard assured, “We’re going to have good people taking over for us when we leave. A significant percentage of the people we sang with before we created Semper is underclassmen. I’m confident that Semper will continue to thrive after we leave Stuy.”