Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508040082
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But she does not sing.
``She really does not sing,'' member Cheryl Hilton says, chuckling.
Hilton is a member of the Voices of Deliverance church choir, a chorus of 23 voices with a big sound and an even bigger reputation. The choir performs frequently around Roanoke, from fund-raisers at Hollins College to First Night Roanoke to Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations.
But what O'Keeffe lacks in vocals, she more than makes up for with her arm-waving enthusiasm.
Her spirited directing style, in fact, is similar to former Roanoke Symphony Orchestra conductor Victoria Bond's.
Bond, who was a member of Deliverance before leaving Roanoke in June, frequently accompanied the choir and its team of musicians on piano.
Raised Jewish, Bond was drawn to Deliverance after hearing about organist Levinia Smith, locally renowned for her command of the gospel piano. Smith passed away in 1991.
Bond says she was challenged, both spiritually and musically, by the church's use of ``praise and worship,'' a free-form blend of individual spoken prayer that flows spontaneously into song and back into prayer, and so on. The praise and worship portion of a Sunday service usually lasts an hour.
``There are no hymnals, nothing written, which is very liberating and challenging for a classical musician,'' Bond says. ``I may be the music director of a symphony, but in that capacity I was in kindergarten.''
Spiritually, Bond was equally floored. ``My first time there, I was wearing some eye makeup, and there were just tears rolling down my face, and then my whole face was covered with mascara. And people kept handing me tissues from behind.
``It was just so deeply beautiful and satisfying and exhilarating. ... The whole thing, it was a brand new world for me.''
O'Keeffe views the choir's performances as an extension of the ministry, rather than a form of popular entertainment. And though she strives for perfection with each song - ``she doesn't let 'em mess with it,'' one member says - the goal of each song is to praise God.
``I really don't sing, so this is my form of expression,'' she says.
The Voices of Deliverance can be seen and heard on the WEFC (Channel 38) program ``Voice of Life'' from 8:30 to 9 p.m. Saturdays.
by CNB