On Friday, Feb. 19 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Department of Music hosted a choir concert featuring performances from the Men’s Chorus, the Women’s Chorus and the Collegiate Singers. The concert was livestreamed under the direction of Randall Kempton, the director of choral activities and the conductor of the Collegiate Singers.
The concert consisted of musical scores such as Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria, a Haitian score called Yon Monn Nonto and a student-composed piece as well.
The student-composed piece was dedicated to a member of the choir whose father passed away from COVID-19.
“The student wrote a piece to honor him, so that’s a special feature to this concert that I think was appreciated,” Kempton said.
Kempton is not the only one who looked forward to this concert. Other students like Daniel Ellis, a sophomore studying biology, eagerly waited to exhibit their talents and hard work.
“The theme for this concert, you could say, is feeling,” Ellis shared.
She went on to say that if students like “feeling things” this concert was teh place to be. According to members of the choirs, there was quite a variety of music exhibited.
Although students and directors had been working to get ready for this concert, vocal preparation was not all they looked out for. The choirs took certain precautions to follow COVID-19 guidelines as well.
“We’re singing 9 feet apart instead of 6 feet apart which allows us to sing safely without masks on,” Kempton said. “We’re spaced further apart, which makes it harder for us to hear each other, and that also means that we have fewer students that we can fit in the choir. So instead of a typical 180 students per choir, we’re restricted to only 20 students.”
Apart from this performance, another choir concert will take place on Feb. 26, featuring Vocal Union, the Jazz Choir, the Concert Choir and the Chamber Women’s Choir.
For anybody interested in being a part of any of these choirs in future semesters, auditions will take place on the first day of each semester. Contact Kempton for more information.
