麻豆传媒映画

麻豆传媒映画 choral ensembles offer both a harmonious art form for audiences to enjoy and an opportunity for both prospective and experienced singers to find community, united by a shared love of music.

鈥淟istening to a choir sing a piece of music shares that story in a way unlike any other way of sharing it,鈥� said Arian Khaefi, director of at 麻豆传媒映画.

Khaefi, an associate professor in the School of Music and Dance, conducts two of 麻豆传媒映画鈥檚 main three choirs, teaches choral literature, and directs the graduate choral conducting program.

鈥淚鈥檝e loved creating music with student singers and watching our students鈥� vocal growth and musical growth as we learn repertoire together and dive into these incredible texts, these lyrics that we sing,鈥� Khaefi said.

One of the biggest highlights for Khaefi is immersing himself in the music the choir performs. Khaefi finds joy in interpreting the music, lyrics, and history of music, where it comes from, and discovering what inspired each composer.

The three choirs at 麻豆传媒映画 are the University Choir, also called U-Choir, Treble Choir, and Chamber Choir.

U-Choir is an introductory choir, focused on inclusivity and open to those with minimal vocal experience, with no auditions required.

鈥淲e want to make sure that there鈥檚 a choir for anyone at any skill level,鈥� Khaefi said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really great choir to get started on all that.鈥�

Singers with stronger musicianship, music-reading skills, and formal training are encouraged to audition for the more competitive Treble or Chamber Choirs.

U-Choir generally consists of 50 to 80 participants, giving members the opportunity to be part of a large choral experience. Treble Choir typically consists of 40 to 60, while Chamber Choir is capped at 24.

Chamber is an advanced mixed voices ensemble of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. They perform anything from songs from a thousand years ago to new compositions and commissioned work, including pop, jazz and musical theatre arrangements. They also sing in different languages from around the world, including Farsi, Estonian, Latin, Greek, Mandarin, and more.

Treble choir consists of exclusively treble voices, meaning sopranos and altos only. They also sing lyrics from all over the world and any time period.

The treble choir in rehearsal. (Photo: Ken Jacques)

All three choirs and a new tenor bass choir will perform at 7 p.m. March 17 at the Main Stage Theatre.

U-Choir, taught by Ramon Cadenas, assistant professor of Choral Music Education, typically performs more contemporary repertoire, including pop arrangements, new commissions, and classical.

鈥淲e do really great music from every single time period, including music written today,鈥� Khaefi said.

These choirs are not limited to majors in the : any student can participate or audition, regardless of their major.

鈥淲e have physics majors, math majors, psych majors, and people in the school of nursing singing in Chamber Choir,鈥� Khaefi said.

All three choirs also participate in the , which allows members of the public not enrolled at 麻豆传媒映画 to participate in certain classes and activities. This program applies to any ensembles in Music and Dance, including the orchestra, band, and jazz combos.

鈥淪inging and playing in an ensemble is a really wonderful social activity, in addition to an academic one, and I think it鈥檚 a great service that the university provides to the greater community,鈥� Khaefi said.

鈥淭o come and listen to a choir sing a piece of music, you get to really be moved by words and you get to really be moved by these beautiful harmonies and watch people come together to create something really powerful,鈥� Khaefi said.