Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 29, 1993 TAG: 9312010052
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON RICHERT NEWSFUN WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One look and you can see that the 120 members of the choir do smile a lot. When they're not singing, that is.
And when they sing, well, they seem to make everybody else smile.
The children's choir is made up of kids ranging from 8 to 17 years old. Members come from the Roanoke Valley, Franklin County, Bedford County, Botetourt County, and even from as far away as Clifton Forge.
Choir members try out to be in one of three choirs - "A," "B" or "C." Most members audition and enter the choir through the "A" choir, Davidson says. A few kids who are older and have had more voice training can be accepted into the "B" choir. When members pass a music theory test and another singing audition, they are admitted into the "C," or concert choir.
Meg Beazley, who is 9 and a member of the "B" choir, says she wants to make it to the concert choir and stay until she is too old to sing in it.
The goal of any Roanoke College Children's Choir member is to get into the "C" choir. The "C" choir gets to go on more trips and gets to perform more.
Davidson, who has been director of the choir for seven years, says that as kids get older, they tend to want to stay in the choir. The age when children had to leave the choir used to be 12, but it has been raised several times, and is now 17.
Kids stay in the choir because they love to sing, and because it's fun, says Josh Mabrey, who is 12 and has been in the "C" choir for three years.
Mary Peterson, who is 15 and has sung in the choir for five years, says being in the choir "makes you feel neat inside. It makes you feel like you're actually accomplishing something in your music."
Music is the reason these kids come out every week to practice. They're at Olin Recital Hall at Roanoke College every Tuesday night to learn about timing, tone and pitch, high notes and low notes, breathing and posture. Every singer learns that these qualities add up to beautiful voices. And the choir has proved its voices are beautiful.
Last spring all three choirs competed in the Paramount-Kings Dominion Choral Festival, and received the highest ratings awarded for their performances. And on Wednesday, the concert choir will go to Orlando, Fla., to sing in the Holiday Choral Festival at Walt Disney World. The choir was one of nine children's choirs chosen from the whole country to participate.
While the choir can't wait to get to Disney and have a blast, they know the real reason they are going is their music. They practiced every Tuesday and Thursday for two hours in October, and on Tuesdays and some Saturdays in November for the concerts they will perform at the Magic Kingdom.
They will present two concerts there, then will combine with the other choirs at the festival to sing two more concerts.
The practices at Roanoke College aren't the only things these kids do to help improve their performances. They have to practice at home, too. And they spend time selling things to raise money for the choir. They've sold candy, Wendy's Bucks and flower bulbs. They do sing-a-thons and accept donations - anything to help raise money to go to Disney World.
The "A," "B" and concert choirs perform two concerts a year in the Roanoke Valley, one at Christmastime and another in the spring. They also perform throughout the year at local festivals and other events.
"The kids are just such hard workers," Davidson says. "They share this common interest in music."
That musical bond keeps members like Holly Adams, 15, and Elizabeth Garrett, 12, coming back year after year. Holly has been in the choir for seven years, and Elizabeth for five. They like the proud feeling they have when everybody begins to sing and when the audience starts to applaud.
A love for music is why 7-year-old Tina Herbert, 8-year-old Mallory Heslep and 8-year-old Jacob Davidson tried out for the choir this year. All are in the "A" choir, and say they wanted to be in it because they love to sing. And, "because my mom's the director," adds Jacob.
While enjoying good music is the best part of being in the choir, there are a couple of letdowns, Justin says. "Some kids look at the choir as only for little kids. But if they knew some of the kids that were in here, they would say, `I've gotta join that choir!' "
And, says Holly, sometimes choir members can't go on school field trips because of choir practice. Or their homework piles up and they don't get to hang out with friends until they finish it all.
Still, when the choir members hear the beautiful sounds their voices make together, they know they don't want to be any place else. Of course, going to Disney World doesn't hurt.
You can hear the children's choir holiday concert on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at Salem Baptist Church. Admission will be $3, and children 12 and under will be admitted for free.
by CNB