North Wichita News

Choir goes back on spring tour after pandemic hiatus

The Concert Choir takes its first spring break tour since 2019, singing in venues in Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, beginning Friday, March 3, with an evening concert in Kansas City.

Rather than a “home concert” at the end of the tour, the choir gave a Feb. 26 concert as a tour send-off.

All concerts are free and open to the public, with freewill offerings taken in some locations.

The first tour stop will be at Emporia (Kan.) High School on March 3, followed by a 7 p.m. concert at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Mo. (11 E. 40th St.).

The choir will travel to Des Moines the next morning, March 4, where they will have a clinic with composer Eric Barnum at Drake University. Barnum wrote two of the songs on this year’s tour program.

They will sing a concert at 7 p.m. in Iowa City at First United Methodist Church (214 E. Jefferson St.).

The choir will join the 10:30 a.m. worship service at FUMC on March 5 before traveling to Parnell, Iowa, for a 4 p.m. concert at West Union Mennonite Church (3253 305th St.).

They will sing an informal concert at 11:30 a.m. March 6 at the Field Museum in Chicago, and a 7 p.m. concert at TBD.

On March 7, the choir will have another Chicago-area performance, 7 p.m. at Resurrection Lutheran Church (3309 N. Seminary Ave., Chicago).

They will have an afternoon and evening, including attendance of the play To Kill a Mockingbird, in St. Louis on March 8, before returning to North Newton, with a possible concert en route still to be determined.

The 42-voice choir is under the direction of Henry S. Waters, D.M.A., in his first year as associate professor of music and director of choral music at Bethel.

The tour program includes selections by the full choir as well as three smaller, a cappella, groups comprising Concert Choir members: Chamber Singers (four-part, 15 voices), Open Road (tenor/bass, 10 voices) and Woven (soprano/alto, 9 voices).

Choir members on the tour are: Phillip Balzer, Freeman, S.D.; Emily Brandt, Newton; Peter Buller, Inman, Kan.; Miguel Molina Chavez, Newton; Sophia Chindamo, Lawrence, Kan.; Shayla Dao, Salina, Kan.; Isabela Diaz, Oklahoma City; Angelika Donaldson, Highland, Ill.; Tristan England, Pretty Prairie, Kan.; Caleb Garber, Newton; Trae Gehring, Pretty Prairie; Schyler Entz, Newton; Josie Epp, Marion, S.D.; Eddie Gaeddert, Goessel, Kan.; Rachel Geyer, Oxford, Iowa; Sophie Girtz, Valley Center, Kan.; Andrew Graber, Divide, Colo.; Angel Hernandez, Freeman; Kendall Hiebert, Goessel; Hayden Honomichl, Great Bend, Kan.; Daniel Kaufman, Moundridge, Kan.; Halle Krehbiel, Hesston, Kan.; Claira Janssen, Beatrice, Neb.; Stephany Meyer, Goessel; Edel Miller, Goessel; April Powls, Garnett, Kan.; Bethany Regehr, Whitewater, Kan.; Eli Regier, Newton; Benjamin Rudeen, Osage City, Kan.; Seth Rudeen, Osage City; Elizabeth Schmucker, Goessel; Jacob Schrag, Goessel; Julianna Schrag, Goessel; Timothy Schrag, Goessel; Chris Strecker, Goessel; Isaac Tice, Buhler, Kan; Corbin Unruh, Moundridge; Gabriel Villegas, Wichita; Zachariah Watson, Independence, Mo.; Allison Weaver, Hesston; Bryce Wilson, Sterling, Kan.; and Dylan Yoder, Wichita.

The tour repertoire is based on the theme “Can We Sing the Darkness to Light?” and comprises secular and sacred music with composers and arrangers that include Eric Barnum, Shawn Kirchner, Susan LaBarr, Dolly Parton, Jake Runestad, The Wailin Jennys and Eric Whitacre, among others.

Original source can be found here.