Video: Harmonium goes Radioactive in Madison; plus Bernstein bonus with a long half-life

Jake Sachs cools down after going 'Radioactive' with Harmonium. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Jake Sachs cools down after going 'Radioactive' with Harmonium. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Video: Harmonium goes Radioactive

By Kevin Coughlin

One of the things that stamps the Harmonium Choral Society as a first-rate ensemble is the precise diction of its choristers.

Jake Sachs had to break them of that habit for Sunday’s rendition of Radioactive, a 2012 hit by Imagine Dragons.

“At first, they were doing it a little too formally,” Sachs recapped, after the crowd-pleasing performance by the Harmonium Chamber Singers at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison.

Jake Sachs cools down after going 'Radioactive' with Harmonium. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Jake Sachs cools down after going ‘Radioactive’ with Harmonium. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The piece was part of a program dubbed Apocalypse Now, which served choral treatments of end times, from Roman times to the present.  The show included Fire Unfelt, a winning contest entry from Mendham High School junior Zachary Catron. (Here is the video.)

Sachs honed his beat-boxing skills with the all-male a cappella ensemble at Drew University.  These days, the Maplewood resident works at a Springfield music store and is a freelance audio engineer. In his spare time, when he’s not tinkering with Harmonium’s diction, Sachs can be found in the tenor section of the choir at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown.

Anne Matlack, Harmonium’s eclectic artistic director, said she is a fan of Pentatonix, which has covered  Radioactive.

“I was really thrilled by Jake’s arrangement,” said Matlack. “It fit with our theme.”

Like we said, Anne’s tastes are eclectic. As a bonus, from the same Apocalyptic concert, here is a luscious excerpt from a Harmonium medley of Leonard Bernstein tunes:

Video: From A Choral Quilt of Bernstein

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