Over the course of next week, the Houghton Singers, Houghton’s acapella group, will leave on a tour which will cover Florida and make additional stops in Virginia and North Carolina. The tour is part of a joint effort with the Advancement Office to publicize Houghton in Florida.
According to Kelly Van Kirk, the group’s director, the idea of a week-long Florida tour came from alumni and community engagement director, Phyllis Gaerte, who first envisioned a partnership between the Singers and Advancement. “It was the perfect storm,” Van Kirk recalled. “It’s not only a great thing for the members of the group [to go on tour], but a chance to connect with our denomination and alumni and to do some recruitment.”
While the Houghton Singers typically do a shorter, more local tour in the spring semester, the tour in Florida will break from previous years in several ways. The Singers are only doing four church concerts, instead playing the majority of their performances at retirement homes and schools. They have also expanded their repertoire to include more than acapella pop which Van Kirk called the group’s “bread and butter.” They will now include a few older jazz standards, a gospel piece or two, and even a Beatles song.
The Houghton Singers were created four years ago by Kevin Dibble during what Van Kirk termed “the post Pitch Perfect phase.” The group is highly selective, with a limited number of slots each year filled by an intensive audition process. Ellenore Tarr ‘18, an alto in the group stated, “I love working with this small, intimate ensemble. We’re more than a singing group. We’re a family of believers, and we get to use our gifts to create something beautiful.” Several members of the group expressed their excitement at the opportunity for a longer tour. “I’m excited to get to go off campus with people in a situation that’s less stressful – no homework or assignments,” said Hannah Jager ‘18, another group member. “We get to just perform, we don’t even have to rehearse every day.”
Additionally, the Singers will experience the Florida weather, and make time in their packed itinerary to visit St. Augustine and Tampa, and hopefully the ocean. “We’re excited to enjoy the weather, enjoy the sunshine,” Van Kirk said. “In a busy tour, this is all the break we’re going to get.” The singers are also looking forward to their role in the advancement process. Jager, a music education major, specifically mentioned the group’s school visits. She also referenced the group’s church ministry, and stated, “We get to lead worship one Sunday, so I’m pretty excited for that.”
To cut down on the cost of a tour bus, the group will be driving themselves, doing the trip down south over two days and the trip home in one. Van Kirk referred to the process as “an adventure.” Despite the long hours on the road, the group is in high spirits. “I’m excited to make personal connections in the places where we travel,” said Tarr. “It will be special to create real memories out of the itinerary that we’ve only seen on paper so far. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be looking back on experiences instead of talking about expectations.”