Vespers: A View from the Risers

Faith Brown '16, member of the Moravian University Choir and President of the Moravian University Women's Chorus, provides an inside look at the beloved Moravian University holiday tradition just days away from her final Vespers performance season.

Music education major Faith Brown ’16 says goodbye to her Phillipsburg home at 6:30 a.m. on a crisp December Monday. She’ll put 4+ years of training into practice at her student teaching post until 10:30 a.m., when she’ll switch gears and return to campus for Jazz Methods. At 1:10 p.m., she'll hone her skills in conducting before diving into music education class until 3:45 p.m. From there, she'll head right to the Central Moravian Church for Vespers rehearsal until 6 p.m. Then, finally, it’s homeward bound for homework, practice and preparations for the next day.

The holiday season is in full swing on Bethlehem’s historic Main Street; but for the 100+ musicians in the beloved Christmas service, it’s Vespers season. From the moment musicians like Brown enter their ensembles in August, they begin practicing and perfecting the carefully curated musical selections—chosen in conjunction with this year’s InFocus Theme: Poverty and Inequality, many feature themes of peace, charity, love, and sacred stories sung in several different languages.

Beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving, musical ensembles take their preparations to the Central Moravian Church twice a week so that, come December, the 5,000 or so Vespers audience members leave as captivated as they did the year before.

Exhausting? It can seem that way, especially with finals looming. A more honest perspective, though, would be this: with the many hours of practicing, mentoring, logistical planning and sheer time spent together, the dedicated student Vespers musicians are privy to their own extremely special Vespers experience—one that is kept close to their hearts for the rest of their lives. The very participation gives way to its own micro-community within the University’s possibly biggest and most beloved tradition.

“I don’t think anyone goes through what the choir goes through each December,” Brown said, sitting near the fireplace in the HUB just two days before her final opening Vespers performance. “Between finals, helping the freshmen navigate their first Vespers, polishing those tough moments in the music and keeping in good vocal health for all six performances, the more we rally around each other, the more of a sense of community we feel.”

And just like our campus community, the Vespers musician’s community comes with its own set of traditions. Brown recounts every one with a smile: director Paula Zerkle handing out vitamin C tablets at rehearsal, the feeling that washes over her at the first rehearsal in the church, and the pre-show warm up in the President’s Room in Main Hall.

“It’s such a beautiful room! Especially if it’s snowing outside,” she said, leaning in. “The glowy light, hardwood floors, the acoustics as everyone is bunched in there; I swear we sound more beautiful in that room than anywhere else.”

Brown started singing in choirs in 10th grade at Phillipsburg High School and began devouring every musical opportunity she could before entering the class of 2016 as a music education major. That spirit continued as she joined nearly every vocal ensemble the University had to offer, including Monte Verdi ensemble, Celtic ensemble, Jazz Vocal Ensemble, Opera Workshop, Women’s and College Choirs, and even the Moravian University Marching Band. Brown knew about Vespers when she applied to Moravian University, but the magnitude of the tradition didn’t sink in until she was wrapping candles during her orientation weekend. After four years and 24 performances, that initial excitement has given way to a calmness only seen in the experienced seniors on the risers.

“Vespers is probably going to be the strongest musical memory that I leave here with,” she said. “You remember all the other concerts, but it always feels like everything is leading up to Vespers. It’s not necessarily affiliated with the school, and you don’t get any recognition, but it’s the thing you remember most and what you have the most stories from. Like, ‘remember when so and so burnt the program with his candle?’”

It’s true, things do go wrong—from crying babies and dripping hot candle wax to untimely phone calls and dysfunctional suspenders, each performance is a little different. Even musically, there are variables. Those pivotal cut-offs and emotional swells are a little different each night, even just slightly. And that’s a good thing, according to Brown. She says Vespers is the ultimate use of all her skills. “Vocally when I’m learning the music, looking back on how I learned as a freshman I can learn it much more quickly, and the techniques I use now are better and different.”

With just two days to go before the beginning of her final Vespers performance season, Brown is feeling a mix of sadness and accomplishment. “There’s a good possibility that I’ll cry. Maybe the first night, maybe the last night. Who knows.”

In addition to the vocal warm-ups, seniors give short speeches, thanking those who helped them along the way and sharing their favorite Vespers memories. (Brown still isn’t sure what she’s going to say.) The warm up before the last performance is an improv vocal experience. Zerkle sings the word “Shalom” on a melody and the singers come in together, eyes closed holding hands, and then improvise on that melody until they, as a group, feel like stopping. That moment is incredibly special, but also symbolically representative of the true Moravian University experience: the ability to create your own path and riff on what’s already there, and the trust and support of a community to end prepared, peaceful, and ready.