While in Greece in 2021 to headline the Harmonia Festival in Preveza, the Portland State Chamber Choir visited the home of the late Leonard Cohen in Hydra, where they performed a powerful rendition of his song “Hallelujah.” Portland State University is proud to share this video in honor of what would be Cohen’s 88th birthday, on September 21, 2022.
The Portland State Chamber Choir has been singing this signature version of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah” since conductor Ethan Sperry arranged it for them in 2011. Sperry's version is highly virtuosic, calling for multiple soloists and dividing the choir into 11 separate parts. The piece has been bringing audiences to their feet in performances around the globe for over a decade now. It was their final song when the choir became the first American choir to win the Grand Prix at the Seghizzi International Contest for Choral Singing in 2013, and the opening number when they were the first American Choir to ever appear at the Bali International Choral Festival in 2017 (where they also won the Grand Prix). Their version even came to the attention of Pope Francis, who used it as the soundtrack for his short film Moral Action on Climate Change, which he aired in his address on the National Mall in Washington DC in 2015.
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