Associate Professor of Music Henry Waters conducts the Chamber Singers in rehearsal. The group is preparing along with six other ensembles for the Vocal Spring Concert on Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29.
Photo by Sergio Cisneros
Sergio Cisneros
Lantern Staff
Associate Professor of Music Henry Waters and the Chamber singers, along with other ensembles, are getting ready to sing their hearts out during the Vocal Music Spring Concert in the Fine Arts Auditorium on Butler’s El Dorado campus in the 700 building on Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29.
To be able to perform at the peak of their skill, people often practice meticulously. The Vocal Music department is not free from the great preparation they are taking to make sure the Spring Concert will be great. The Chamber Singers will make an appearance at the concert along with six other ensembles.
“Not only is it important to practice and make sure we know the song, but we sing songs hundreds of years old, and we keep the legacy of the composers alive, so we make sure we sing them with the quality they deserve,” sophomore Lexi McFresh said. “It’s also about our teamwork. It’s a different type of love.”
Practicing not only helps the singers better perform the song, but it also keeps their bond with each other strong. All singers need to work in tandem to create the perfect sound.
For Waters, this has been his fifth year teaching and the conductor for the Chamber Singers. According to Waters, his favorite part of working with the Chamber Singers are the rehearsals. He explains that people always say that the performances are the cherry on top of the sundae, and they are in fact wonderful, but the rehearsal is where the ice cream, the chocolate and the sprinkles reside.
Through the rehearsals, the teachers and students get to experience comradery and emotion through practicing their songs and sound that one cannot experience in some classes.
“[When] I selected a piece called “Let My Love Be Heard,” by Jake Runestad for the students to sing in response to the Orlando, Fl. shooting, and the first day I played the piece it was a very emotional,” Waters said. “We had a discussion about the purpose of the piece and relating it to our world. It produced a brilliant moment and showed why this is important to us. We really tap into our feelings, and especially in 2017, we’ve shut out our emotions to the world, and it’s important to keep our emotions alive through music.”
The program not only allows students to expand themselves in an artistic way, but allow them to connect with other students on a deep level and become involved as a part of Butler’s communities.
“What I love the most about choir is definitely the people,” freshman Shymiek Townes said. “Everyone is friendly and easy to talk to.”
Not only does the music program teach students about the thought that goes to into creating the songs, but teaches students the inclusiveness and empathy that music creates between person to person.
“The most important lesson I’ve learned so far is that no one is different from you,” Townes said. “Music has a way of unifying people and bringing everyone together in a way that helps you see people as one instead of separate. When you’re singing with someone it doesn’t matter if they’re rich or poor, what color their skin is or anything. We forget about what makes us different to accomplish our goal, which is to make great music and I think that’s pretty awesome.”
After watching the singers practice and Waters making sure the sound is just right, the Spring Concert will be a perfect way for the Vocal Music department to sign off the end of the semester. It will be a show that nobody will want to miss.