Ride On King Jesus
Traditional Spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan
Performed by Liberty High School Concert Choir.

This choir emanates the spirit of this piece quite well through the use of phrasing and dynamics and appropriate character for the spiritual genre. The soloists also display a genuine satisfaction with what they are singing, particularly the second soloist. They start with great force and display great control over dynamics as the soloists sing and swelling ability on "Ride on", a nice subtle touch to this already great performance. At the end of the piece, with the large chordal sound, a single soprano is clearly heard above the choir with pitch accuracy and power. The pronunciation of the text is also clear and appropriate to the genre, not too round and not too nasally. The choir members also hit the notes precisely adding to the chromatic passages that can occur throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this composition and performance; this choir demonstrates that the conductor clearly has an understanding of what it takes to create a solid choir.