At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, students, faculty and community members alike gathered in Lawrence Memorial Chapel, eagerly awaiting Seckou Soumare’s senior recital. Soumare, a singer-songwriter in Lecturer of Music Dr. Cayla Rosché’s studio, worked tirelessly for months to prepare this program, writing and arranging with Lawrence junior Joey O’Connor to create a seamless symphonic experience. Collaborating with 43 musicians who comprised a full chamber orchestra, complete with organ and choir, Soumare’s senior experience was a recital on an unprecedented scale.
As the lights dimmed and the orchestra tuned their instruments, the disembodied voice of junior Nikola Kuzmanovic announced, “NOIR and the Matte Black Chamber Orchestra, the floor is yours.” Beginning with the conspicuous absence of Soumare, O’Connor led the Matte Black Orchestra in an instrumental piece composed by Soumare entitled “The Prologue,” setting the scene with a dramatic trumpet and french horn fanfare accompanied by lush chords from the strings. While “The Prologue” concluded with a fiery crescendo, Soumare entered from stage left as senior Ben Lewis began the bass intro of NOIR’s newest release, “PHYSICAL.” The blend between the orchestral stabs and swells with the funk-influenced, soulful performance of Soumare and NOIR perfectly captured the larger-than-life feelings of desire and dedication present in his lyrics.
The disembodied narrator then asked, “Seckou, PHYSICAL is one of the newest songs that you’ve written. Give us something that has roots from way back when. What’s that song you wrote with your good friend Mali?”
A soft, suspended chord from the strings signaled the next song, “Hear Me Out,” co-authored by Soumare and senior Mali Indira-Jackson with orchestrations by O’Connor. This slower, sensitive track showcased the superior musicianship exhibited by those on stage.
Senior Josué Ríos López, guitarist for NOIR, described how the ensemble rose to the challenge of this innate difficulty, stating, “Trying to combine our sounds was less challenging than I expected. The arrangements were done so well that it was just a matter of paying attention.”
Concluding the first half with two new compositions, “Thespian” and “When the Lights are Off,” Soumare paused to give a brief introduction to the orchestra and his NOIR bandmates, junior Luis Plaza on piano, senior Ben Lewis on bass, senior Josué Ríos López on guitar and junior Quintin Fernandez on drums.
After a quick intermission, NOIR and the Matte Black Chamber Orchestra retook the stage with a warm welcome from the narrator: “We hope you’re enjoying the show so far. Sit back as we continue with the night. How about we start off with something laid back from just the band? Luis, that’s your queue.” Plaza then launched into the opening chords of “Believe Me When I Say,” a collaboration between him and Soumare. The reserved chords of the piano with Lewis’ rich bass lines created an intimate atmosphere of musical interaction, providing a respite from the vastness of the chapel stage.
Giving the audience more insight into the production of this performance, Soumare then began his list of thank-you’s, with the other musicians even launching into an impromptu arrangement of “Happy Birthday” to his longtime friend and collaborator manning the video camera, Lawrence alumnus Nate Smith. Soumare also thanked the outgoing Dean of the Conservatory of Music Brian Pertl, saying that Pertl told him, “Yeah, go ahead and do it!” when Soumare voiced his doubts about the magnitude of this project.
With a brief guitar intro, the ensemble started the penultimate song of the night, “IJWBY.” An abbreviation for “I Just Wanna Be Yours,” this epic seven-minute piece included swelling string accents, soaring horns and Soumare’s raw, expressive vocals. After the thunderous applause died down, Soumare left the stage once more as the narrator stated, “Thank you for joining NOIR and the Matte Black Chamber Orchestra. I’ve been your host, Nikola Kuzmanovic. We hope—” before being cut off by Soumare’s voice interrupting with:
“Whoa whoa whoa, what are you doing?”
To which she replied, “I’m ending the show. What do you think I’m doing?”
Soumare then chimed back in with, “There’s one more song! Everyone remain seated. For the finale, give it up for NOIR and the Matte Black Chamber Orchestra!”
The stage door opened one final time, leading Soumare, organist junior Victor Sandberg and choir director senior Camara White back to the stage. Building from single note lines on the organ to fully voiced, explosive chords including choir, strings and brass, “The Epilogue” seamlessly flowed into Soumare’s final song, “Battle Scars.”
“Battle Scars,” composed by Soumare and orchestrated by O’Connor, was a highlight of the night, constantly building in intensity with solos from senior Nico Hernandez-Webster on saxophone, Quintin Fernandez on drums and Josué Ríos López on guitar. Overlapping and interweaving with Soumare’s vocals, López remarked about his meteoric solo, “Seckou said he needed me to put everything I had into that final solo. I think it made everyone happy, including myself.” As the song came to a close, Soumare paused just ahead of the last chord to once again thank the audience and his collaborators before queuing one final, ferocious wall of sound from NOIR and the Matte Black Chamber Orchestra.
An extremely ambitious and expertly executed senior experience, Seckou Soumare’s recital was a love letter to Lawrence University and a truly soul-filled performance of his original music. I left the chapel awestruck at the sheer quality of musicianship, dedication and authenticity showcased on that stage. As the academic year comes to a close, I highly recommend seeing NOIR anywhere they perform, including LUAROO 2025.