Sing My Soul draws hundreds of choir students for workshop, concert
Bethel choir's Sep. 26 Sing My Soul event was a success for both college and high school students.
Last Tuesday morning, buses crowded outside of Memorial Hall where hundreds of high school students had gathered with one purpose: they were there to sing their souls.
Sing My Soul is an event hosted by the Bethel College Music Department for local high schools to come work and sing with Bethel’s music faculty and choirs. Four of the five Bethel choral music groups (Open Road, Woven, chamber singers, and concert choir) acted as instructors, ambassadors, and recruiters to the six high schools that arrived at the clinic.
The six schools covered a broad range of the south-central Kansas region, as well as some of the concert choir member’s hometowns. These included Gossel, Haven, Arkansas City, Nickerson, Newton, and Goddard, resulting in over 200 students who were supported by nearly 40 music students from Bethel College. This culminated in a massive concert at the end of the day which live streamed on the Bethel Music Department YouTube channel.
During the clinic, each choir got to perform one song for the five other schools and worked with Dr. Henry Waters and Dr. Christina Liu to improve minor parts of their performances. They also worked on two separate pieces that they sang together with their fellow high school students and the Bethel choir groups.
At the end of the clinic, the visiting students got to see a small part of what the Bethel music students have been working on so far this year, with a single piece presented by each of the four choirs. Then the six schools joined the stage with the Bethel singers and performed their two songs.
Finally, the concert ended with a surprise performance by the Concert Choir one of their favorite long-standing traditions: “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” This song has closed every choir concert for well over two decades of Threshers.
Waters himself considered the clinic a massive success. The various other faculty who showed up in support, including Joel Boettger, Chris Miertschin, and campus pastor Michael Unruh, helped make the event go smoothly.
Admissions was there as well, hoping to recruit the next generation of Threshers. Sing My Soul was also directed by Waters last year, featuring almost half the number of students that attended this year. With plans to host the clinic again next year, there is great potential for more students to come and, as Waters said, “sing their souls.”