For Doris Lambert, the conductor of Lawton’s Bella Voce Women’s Chorus and the Cantus Men’s Chorus, music is a balm — and being able to bring it back to the public in-person is a step toward healing the pain of the pandemic. “For all of us, being able to be together making music is like medicine for our heart and soul,” Lambert said, speaking on behalf of the members of both choruses.
Bella Voce and Cantus will administer this medicine in the form of a summer concert at the Cameron University Theater on Friday with the theme of “Sing, Sing, Sing.” “The past year of required isolation for people, like musicians, who thrive on togetherness, needless to say, drains the creative power … and our musical nourishment,” Lambert said. “Live performance, and rehearsal, provide a moment in time to achieve something magical and fleeting because the circumstances are always changing.”
Bella Voce has been around for nearly a decade, but Cantus was formed just last year to give the city’s male singers a chance to perform together, despite the restrictions placed on them due to COVID-19. The group held its first concert alongside Bella Voce in February of this year.
“This is an exciting development for me, since I had not ever conducted an all-male ensemble before the creation of Cantus,” Lambert said. “The singers in Cantus enjoyed the experience so much, they asked me if they could meet in the summer and share another concert with Bella Voce. Who could say no to a request like that?”
