By Josey Ikker
Over Spring Break from Feb. 24 through Mar. 3, the Houghton University Choir traveled around New York, to Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia for their Choir Tour.
Each night, the Houghton Choir had the opportunity to spread the message of Christ through music in Salamanca, Hamburg and Webster, NY; Bird In Hand, Greencastle and State College, PA; and Sterling, VA. The choir also had the opportunity to work with local high schools in PA, VA and MD, participating in workshops, chapel services and rehearsals, as well as performing excerpts of their concerts.
The Houghton Choir is the only ensemble in the Greatbatch School of Music that consists of students who are sophomores and above and have been practicing traditional choral music since the beginning of the academic school year.
Dr. Kevin Dibble, the conductor of the Houghton choir and director of choral activities at Houghton, expresses his thoughts on Tour, stating that his favorite experience was “spending time getting to know all of the students on Tour.”
Rebekah Scharf, a second-year graduate student in conducting, and the assistant conductor for Houghton choir, also expresses her thoughts, stating, “I loved getting to meet people and just getting some good bonding time with the choir.”
The Houghton Choir’s statement of mission states as follows: “As the Houghton Choir, we seek to glorify God personally and corporately by upholding and extending a rich tradition of excellence in choral music. Through a diversity of choral literature, we aspire to minister the life-transforming power of God’s love and grace to all who hear us. We strive to live humbly as a community of individuals who love and value each other because of our desire to reach others for Him and our understanding of Christ’s love for us as His children. Soli deo Gloria; Latin for To God be the Glory.
Many favorite pieces of repertoire from the program include composers by Elaine Hagenberg, Stacey Gibbs, Alice Parker, Dan Forrest, and Larry Fleming, as well as a premiere piece written for Tour and composed by Ethan Carr, another 2nd-year graduate student.
“‘I Went to the Woods’ was written by one of my closest friends [Ethan Carr] and it was wonderful getting the chance to conduct it,” says Scharf, who was mentioning her favorite pieces from the concert.
Her other favorite piece is “O Love”, although she was uncertain exactly why it was meaningful to her.
“It just touched me more and more and it was also one of those pieces where we had choral members from other churches join us,” says Scharf.
Dr. Dibble also listed his favorite repertoire.
In “Christ the Appletree”, “I was reminded that all of the students have shown me the goodness of God and I think about all the students as fruit and the goodness it has shown,” says Dr. Gibble. “‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’ is a fantastic hymn of the faith all of our audiences and singers can relate to. ‘Give Me Jesus’ has meant a lot to me since I was a student [at Houghton] and continuing that tradition has been a privilege.”
All are welcome to come and worship with the Houghton Choir at their free concert “Christ Our Home” on Friday, Mar. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wesley Chapel. ★
