It’s a big weekend for Cassandra Hernandez.
At 10 o’clock Saturday morning, she’ll graduate from the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in music education.
At 7:30 Saturday evening, she’ll solo with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas at a sold-out Christmas concert.
What happens after that is a gift still waiting to be unwrapped, says Hernandez, who just completed her student teaching at her alma mater, Bentonville High School.
“I was kind of hoping this semester I’d decide singing isn’t for me or teaching isn’t for me,” she says. “But there’s just no feeling like being on stage with other people and singing; it’s always been unparalleled for me.
“And then I started teaching and building relationships with kids, and it’s equally amazing in a completely different way. I’ve always been such a multitasker, and I really want to pick one thing and just go all in, pursue it in every way possible.
“I see the SoNA concert as symbolic of my graduating and moving on to the next thing. I just don’t quite know what it is yet! I’m actively trying to figure it out.”
Hernandez is as enthusiastic about the SoNA performance as she is about everything else in a brief conversation - wildly so.
She’s singing “Santa Baby,”which she describes as a “jazzy, sassy sort of song” made famous in 1953 by Eartha Kitt. It might seem an unlikely choice for Hernandez, whose senior vocal recital showcased her as a soprano. But she says she has a “really large range.” Proof, says her former choirdirector and mentor, Terry Hicks of Bentonville High School, is on YouTube, where Hernandez’ performance of “Wade in the Water” has gotten some 50,000 views.
Hicks, who says Hernandez is “a world-class singer,” is also looking forward to the SoNA event, at which he’ll director the 53-voice SoNA Singers. It’s the second season for the group, which brings together vocalists from “Fayetteville to Bentonville and Eureka Springs to Siloam Springs” and “from all different walks of life,” he says, “everything from college students to voice teachers to architects.” Their common goal, he says, “is the desire to make great choral music.”
In addition to holiday standards, Hicks is most excited about a “beautifulpiece called ‘Ubi Caritas’ by composer Ola Gjeilo, a rising star in the choral composition world.” Born in Norway, Gjeilo studied at the Juilliard School and has recorded two albums as a pianist, “Stone Rose” in 2007 and “Piano Improvisations” in 2012.
“Ubi Caritas” was written to be performed a capella, Hicks says, but a YouTube version shows Gjeilo improvising a piano accompaniment. Lisa Welty-Auten, pianist for the SoNA Singers, will be joining them in her version of his improvisational accompaniment.
“I’m incredibly excited,” Hicks says. “This is something not many choirs would be able to do - either they don’t have the singersor they don’t have the accompanist to pull it off.”
Paul Haas, music director and conductor for SoNA, is anticipating every moment of the concert but particularly the surprises, for which he has a reputation. Pressed to choose numbers on the program, Haas names “Sleigh Ride,” which he says “just encapsulates Christmas for me,” and one of the Russian dances from “The Nutcracker Suite,” because “I tend to like excitement.”
To sell out a concert, Haas says, isn’t just a reflection on the music, “it’s a community thing.”
“It’s a celebration of Northwest Arkansas and a beautiful way to remind ourselves of how lucky we are at this most meaningful time of year.”
Whats Up, Pages 14 on 12/14/2012