指揮：連芳貝 / 鋼琴：莊憶芬 / 獨唱：羅崧慎、白庭潔 / 朗誦：林昶緯 　　本曲作者艾瑞克‧韋塔克（Eric Whitacre, 1970－）為美國知名作曲家。即使高中時被學校樂隊開除，他後來仍堅持夢想，在拉斯維加斯的內華達州立大學開始積極地學習作曲與合唱指揮，當時也譜寫了〈豪雨〉這首歌曲。之後他前往朱利亞德音樂學院（The Juilliard School of Music），師習於曾獲奧斯卡奬的作曲家約翰•克里利亞諾 （John Corigliano），並取得碩士學位，從此成為世界上最受歡迎的作...  more指揮：連芳貝 / 鋼琴：莊憶芬 / 獨唱：羅崧慎、白庭潔 / 朗誦：林昶緯 　　本曲作者艾瑞克‧韋塔克（Eric Whitacre, 1970－）為美國知名作曲家。即使高中時被學校樂隊開除，他後來仍堅持夢想，在拉斯維加斯的內華達州立大學開始積極地學習作曲與合唱指揮，當時也譜寫了〈豪雨〉這首歌曲。之後他前往朱利亞德音樂學院（The Juilliard School of Music），師習於曾獲奧斯卡奬的作曲家約翰•克里利亞諾 （John Corigliano），並取得碩士學位，從此成為世界上最受歡迎的作曲家之一。他的專輯《豪雨與其他作品》收錄了無伴奏合唱作品，目前在世界上仍是暢銷專輯，並在2007年被葛萊美提名為最佳合唱團演出。 　　韋塔克以獨特的作曲風格聞名，曲中往往有繽紛而又不和諧的和弦，也蘊含隨性之感。〈豪雨〉即採用隨性曲風來表達沙漠突然發生雷雨的驚險與興奮。先是一些微弱的聲音，由小而大不斷增強直到一個高潮，合唱團藉由鼓掌、彈指以及手鐘來模仿雨的聲音，創造出「雷雨」的意象。突如其來的風暴隨即消失後，只剩下雨音的迴聲。 　　〈豪雨〉的歌詞出自於墨西哥詩人奧克塔維奧‧帕斯（Octavio Paz, 1914－1998）的詩篇，卓越的詩歌創作讓他在1981年獲得西班牙語文學的最高榮譽「塞萬提斯奬」（Premio Miguel de Cervantes），1990年成為第十位以西班牙語寫作的諾貝爾文學獎得主，同時也是中南美洲第四位諾貝爾文學獎得主。  less

The Vocal Art Ensemble presented their rendition of "O Sapo (The Toad" arranged by Stephen Hatfield as part of their "Cloudburst--Sounds of Nature" concert in May 2011. Intended to chronicle the evolution of Earth's creatures, this piece shows the utter j...  moreThe Vocal Art Ensemble presented their rendition of "O Sapo (The Toad" arranged by Stephen Hatfield as part of their "Cloudburst--Sounds of Nature" concert in May 2011. Intended to chronicle the evolution of Earth's creatures, this piece shows the utter joy of a toad hopping around his kingdom on our green planet. The women dance and the men join in with percussion and 'toad calls'.  

The women of The Vocal Art Ensemble perform Ro Agura's "Hotaru Koi" (Ho, Firefly) as part of their May 2011 concert "Cloudburst--Sounds of Nature". To set the mood, the men behind the women are providing 'firefly' effects using laser keychains.

As part of the Vocal Art Ensemble's May 2011 concert "Cloudburst--Sounds of Nature" is "Tres Cantos Nativos", a collection of three Krao Indian songs arranged by Marco Leite. As this piece was meant to represent the early beginnings of human civilization ...  moreAs part of the Vocal Art Ensemble's May 2011 concert "Cloudburst--Sounds of Nature" is "Tres Cantos Nativos", a collection of three Krao Indian songs arranged by Marco Leite. As this piece was meant to represent the early beginnings of human civilization and the birth of language, we have staged the piece in a somewhat tribal way and added jungle sound effects.