By A.J. KING

ajk012@latech.edu

 

Folk songs and religious ballads were the tunes sung Jan. 18 in Howard Center for the Performing Arts.

Anonymous 4 sang about journeying to that heavenly home over the Jordan River on their Louisiana stop of the “Long Time Traveling Tour.”

Kenneth Robbins, director of the School of Performing Arts, said, “It is tied directly to the American experience from its own beginning.”

Robbins also said he thought the chance to see the Anonymous 4 was an opportunity that allowed students to hear the wealth and breadth the musical arts contain.

“It was a chance to experience music of their tradition,” Robbins said.

Robbins also said he thought the Anonymous 4 brought their research and talents nicely to the stage.

The Anonymous 4 sang gospel songs from the North such as “The Shining Shore” and shape-note songs, songs that use shapes to represent notes for easy reading, published in the mid-19th century in the rural South such as “I’m on my Journey Home.”

Leah Seamans, a senior music education and vocal performance  major, said she bought Anonymous 4’s “Gloryland” specifically for the shape-note song “I’m on my Journey Home.”

“They seem to be very down to earth,” Seamans said. “They’re fun.”

Seamans also said she loves going to the Louisiana Tech Concert Association events because she gets the chance to hear various performers of different song styles.

“You can’t go anywhere else in this area and get this quality of music,” Seamans said.

Laura Harvey, a senior chemical engineering major, said she usually comes to the events presented by the LTCA.

“I think [the Anonymous 4] is awesome,” Harvey said.

She said she liked the group because of the harmonies, the songs Anonymous 4 sang and the music was something Harvey grew up listening to with her mom.

Sirpa Kaajakari came to the concert because she was curious about the Anonymous 4’s style of singing. Kaajakari also brought her mother to the concert.

“I wanted to bring her to the concert,” Kaajakari said.

“She doesn’t speak English, so this is good.”

Kaajakari said her mother, who was visiting from Finland, could listen to the music without knowing what the words are because the music transcended language barriers.

Kaajakari translated for her mother, Ritra Vanhanen, “She enjoyed it very much. She thought they were very skilled singers. It didn’t matter so much that she didn’t understand the words.”