Devin Altizer APPropos Response 14 November 2011 APPropos: Matters of the Heart APPropos is a group of faculty singers from

Appalachian State University. Each of the individual performers have wide and varied careers, and have been praised for their vocal talents worldwide. In the specific performance I saw, one of their members was ill or else had scheduling conflicts, so two of their voice students took her place. The group presented short scenes and arias from various operas, in addition to some Brahms lullabies and musical theatre songs. Each of the singers had individual moments which were quite nice, but the strongest moments occurred when several of them were singing together. The vocal blend was appropriately smooth, and the harmonies were tight and well executed. The music was also partially acted out, which was especially helpful in the foreign language pieces, making it easy for the audience to understand the basic story of the song. The group highlight was perhaps the quintet from Carmen that ended the showthe excitement on the performers faces and pitchperfect harmonies made for an engaging performance. While the group performance was well done, the evenings show-stealer belonged to not the original members, but one of their students. The performance of Vanilla Ice Cream was humorous, and even its highest notes were sung effortlessly. While this is not generally the sort of music I would listen to in my free time, I had a great appreciation for the beauty of it, and the talent with which it was performed. Aside from some stance issues (nervous tension, perhaps?), all of the performers seems comfortable, and sung each of their songs perfectly. All in all, I believe it was an evening well-spent.