Choral performance at USF nominated for Grammy

TAMPA — On cue, the nearly 50 booming voices stopped, leaving several seconds of absolute, eerie silence.

Then came the downbeat, another cue, and up they roared again, filling the University of South Florida concert hall with song — Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, to be exact. The performance, recorded at USF’s music hall this summer, was just nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

For 20-year-old Alex Solomon, the experience was overwhelming.

“The musical greatness that I was surrounded by in this performance, in this recording, was uncanny,” Solomon said. “It was gorgeous.”

Solomon, a music performance junior, was one of 30 students, and nine from USF, who sang on the classical recording. It’s the product of a two-week intensive training program between USF and Miami-based professional choir Seraphic Fire, produced by artistic director Patrick Quigley and USF choral studies director James K. Bass.

“The whole thing is kind of like a daze to me,” Solomon said. “Did we even do this?”

They did. And it’s not the first time.