Coming off of their 2021 tour, Northwestern’s A capella Choir is excited to perform a concert for Northwestern’s campus and community on April 16. The concert will be held in NW’s Christ Chapel and will hold a wide variety of choral arrangements.
The performance is free and open to both students and the community. Seating is limited to groups of three in the pews.
Pre-COVID-19, the choir tour would take the ensemble outside the Orange City area and across local state lines. They would stay at places outside of the immediate area and have a long weekend of concerts and performances for many churches, schools and communities. The amount of performances stayed the same, and those who got to enjoy the choir’s music were less than 25 miles away. Their trip spanned from Thursday, April 8, until Sunday, April 11. The ensemble voices were lent to places like Unity Christian High School, MOC-Floyd Valley High School, and local churches.
Libby Ven Huizen, senior worship arts major, said, “We were so blessed to have been able to even do a tour, given the circumstances of this year.”
Naomi Lief, freshman art major, said, “It was very exhilarating to be able to sing in the large sanctuaries of the churches. Our voices seemed to echo throughout the room long after we had finished singing.”
The concert order contains three different “packages” of music. The first contains religious texts in song regarding God’s presence in times of struggle and hardship. The second is what Dr. Holm calls “virtuosic” music without text which showcase pure skill. Lastly, the third contains spirituals, including a Taiwanese love song that the choir has been rehearsing since the beginning of the semester. Choir members have enjoyed exploring and singing all of the songs in their set.
Jamie Stoscher, sophomore worship arts major, said, “My favorite piece that we are doing for this concert has animal noises, so come to the concert to find out how we do that.”
Among all of the changes and new songs, there are some things with the choir that still remain the same. Those include their dedication to music and their commitment to loving each other like family. During the tour, the choir had opportunities to grow in their relationships with each other and bond through conversations, Blue Bunny and bowling. These days were filled with familial-like bonding and Dr. Holm’s legendary bowling scores.
The A capella Choir looks forward to finishing out their spring tour with a concert at NW and providing students and the community with beautiful music.
