Under the glow of the stars above, four performers poured their hearts into their music.
Take Four is a commercial music chamber ensemble made up of four students, Taylor Wilson, Abigail Shipley, Kacie Bell and Emerie Ediger. These four women began performing as a group at the end of the fall semester, and their most recent performance took place at Samford’s Christenberry Planetarium on April 4.
“My favorite part of this experience was getting to share our originals in this space and how cool it was to feel like we were sitting under the stars with the audience, singing campfire songs to them,” Bell said.
The setlist was a mixture of original songs from the artists and covers with special meanings to the performers. The lyrics focused on topics from mental health and the loss of childhood to first loves and teenage memories.
“We chose our songs based on our originals and what songs inspired us most,” Wilson said “A lot of the covers we’re doing are songs that have a special meaning to us or were formative in our music careers.”
Overhead, Professor Olive, the Samford professor in charge of the Christenberry Planetarium, directed the audience through moons and galaxies in the universe. The backdrop of the planetarium created an incredibly unique musical experience. The infinite expanse of the universe was creatively contrasted with the lyrics expressing the human experience.
“This was my first time performing at the planetarium, and I loved it so much and would love to do it again in the future,” Bell said “[Professor Olive] was incredibly helpful and kind and performing under the stars really set the mood for our performance.”
This concert created new opportunities for Take Four as well as the planetarium. Performing in such a different environment can help grow the artists and the group together as a whole and the success of this particular performance could lead to new ideas for collaborations with the planetarium. Thinking outside of the box for this concert under the stars was truly an accomplishment for the Christenberry Planetarium.
Arts & Life Editor
