The stage lights flicker on. A low hum fills the auditorium, followed by high and medium pitches. A harmony of varying voices coalesces, filling the souls of the audience.
The University of Memphis (UofM) Honor Choir brings high school students from the Memphis area and nearby to rehearse in a collegiate-level choir. This year, the Honor Choir was originally scheduled for Jan. 29 to 30, but was postponed to Feb. 12 to 13 due to a major winter storm.
“My director has close ties with the clinicians at the University of Memphis, and so he was able to select people from our school to go to the Honor Choir event,” Siri Larsen (12) said. “And that’s basically how I learned about it. He asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said yes.”
High school directors are to select a balanced ensemble of sopranos, altos, tenors and bases. White Station High School’s director, Daniel Massey, chose 16 students — four of each vocal part. However, not all could attend due to scheduling conflicts.
“I think my favorite part is always hearing the first rehearsal when everybody comes together and you can just kind of hear everything fall in place even if not everything is perfect,” Larsen said. “You can still hear we work really hard, and our efforts are very audible.”
The Honor Choir is split into multiple segments over the two days students attend. One of these sections is sight reading, which is when musicians read and perform music just after they receive it and have no time to prepare in advance.
“You have to be attentive, and you have to make sure that you’re like marking in your music,” Larsen said. “Like, ‘Okay, this is one section that I need to work on,’ or maybe you’re getting one section really well and you’re wanting to help make sure that you keep doing that section correctly. [That] is being able to sight read your music well.”
The Honor Choir also has students split up into sectionals, where the director helps each vocal part learn their music separately rather than as one ensemble. This practice helps musicians refine their parts before rejoining the group for one rehearsal.
“If anybody has any questions at the end [of sectionals], they usually make sure to get to everybody who’s like, ‘Oh, okay, this section is one thing that I’m noticing that I’m struggling on,’ and then they go over it, and then they move on to the next section, which is really helpful for making sure that you know your music, especially if you want it to be memorized,” Larsen said.
A main feature of the Honor Choir is its instructors: guest conductors, UofM faculty and graduate students. Singers also participate in masterclasses with clinicians that critique singing and provide exercises to help students push through obstacles they might be facing.
“I did a masterclass and my clinician — who was Dr. Megan Gray, I believe — she basically had me do some exercises where, instead of hitting every note on the head, I kind of flowed through it, and it also helps you with your mental connection to a song,” Larsen said. “So a lot of people think that music is notes and rhythms, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s also your emotional connection to it.”
At the end of the event, participants put on a concert along with the UofM’s University Singers and a pianist. The Honor Choir members sang pieces like “Journey On,” “Silver Rain” and “Let The Music Fill Your Soul.” The University Singers performed Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.”
“‘Let The Music Fill Your Soul’ is kind of just about connecting with other people through music, and that’s one of the things that I love about music and singing,” Larsen said. “You can come together with a bunch of different people, all from different backgrounds, all from having different experiences, and … all from different places, and you can make music together in a beautiful way. And, even if you don’t know the people that you’re singing with, it’s a very vulnerable thing to do. I think it’s a really great way for people to express themselves with other people who are also doing that and also the audience.”