Internationally acclaimed German a capella group Singer Pur performed musical selections spanning a thousand years of musical history in a concert in Rubendall Recital Hall on Oct. 10, concluding their four-day residency on campus.

Around 250 faculty members, students and residents of the Carlisle area attended the concert, leaving space for standing room only. Members of the audience gave Singer Pur a warm welcome and also a standing ovation at the end of the concert. The singers returned for an encore performance, where they sang Sting’s popular song, “Fields of Gold.”

The concert on Saturday was titled “Singer Pur: A Thousand Years of Vocal Music.” The set list featured pieces from the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, and up to contemporary artists, such as Sting.

Emily Fineberg ’16 said that during the concert she “…was in awe of how expressive the singers were in their performance. I felt sad when they expressed sadness and joy when they expressed joy.”

Amy Isaacson ’18, a member of the on-campus a capella group, the Infernos, said that although Singer Pur’s musical style is different from the Infernos, she could still “appreciate their amazing talent as a group… You could hear each person in their group individually, while at the same time their voices blended together really well.”

In addition to the concert, the six members of Singer Pur attended German and Music classes along with a capella rehearsals, causing students to come away with a better sense of course material and improved singing techniques.

Students had positive things to say about Singer Pur’s residency. Fineberg explained that the group worked with her German class, German Environments, on the poetry behind the music.

“Their perspective on the texts was fascinating and allowed me to see the texts differently,” Fineberg said. “The best part was when they performed the songs for us.”

Singer Pur performed and discussed “Letztes Glück,” “Es sang vor langen Jahren” and “Bunt sind schon die Wälder” in the German Environments class, all of which were performed at the concert.

Celina Natzic ’18 said that in her History of Music course, the group gave a presentation and then performed three songs with a subsequent discussion.

“It was really interesting to see old music come to life,” said Natzic.

Isaacson said that Singer Pur came to the Infernos rehearsal and “were really fun to work with” as they critiqued the students’ performance.

“To be critiqued by Singer Pur gave us the opportunity to work on how to make our stage presence better and also work out a lot of the rough patches we still had in our song,” Isaacson said. “We did ‘Something I Need’ by One Republic and I have the solo, so I really appreciated getting pointers… on how to improve my singing technique.”

Singer Pur previously visited Dickinson in the fall of 2013, where they also worked with students and held a concert. The group was founded in 1991 and is comprised of “an unusual combination of voices,” a soprano, three tenors, a baritone and a bass, and of five men and one woman. Singer Pur has won several awards both internationally, and in their home country of Germany. Singer Pur has 25 CDs, all of which can be purchased on their website, http://www.singerpur.de.