Gospel Choir in
2004-2005
A brief summary by Matthew Hofer
For those that are interested, I have compiled a collection of descriptions
and photographs that should give the viewer some idea of what being in
Gospel Choir is like. I hope you enjoy!
Practices Gospel Choir practices without the use of formal musical script
and jargon. I'm sure there's a word for it, but I don't know it because all
the music-related stuff I know has been learned at Gospel Choir! All I know
is that there is a definite process to learning that the choir manages to
complete by the time performances roll around. : All the choir practices
with are DJ's musical cues and (usually!) written words to the song.
DJ, our music director, is a really talented and motivating musician. It
has to be hard guiding people of varying talents and musical experience,
but he does it in a way that is effective and fun. In particular, I am
struck by the interesting words that he sometimes uses to guide us toward a
particular way of singing. In the future, I may post additional content
about this.
Practices are a lot of fun. Here's a picture or two of everyday practices
from 2004-2005.
Socials
Once a term the choir arranges a relaxed time for socializing and fun.
Check out what we did for our socials!
Fall Term
Ok ok, nothing too elaborate here. On the Monday after our concert, some of
us hung out together during our normal practice hours. We played
Catchphrase and ate snacks. It was a blast for those of us who went!
Playing catchphrase with DJ is quite an experience!
Winter Term
Our Winter term social took place a week before Christmas break started.
After Saturday practice most of us went over to Pastor April's for a choir
Christmas celebration. Pastor April had food ready for us in the basement,
where we all ate and socialized awhile. Then we all sang a Chrismas carol
that we had been practicing. After a magnificent performance, we all went
upstairs for the white elephant gift game (if it has an official title, I
don't know it!). Before this social, everyone was instructed to find and
wrap one totally pointless and useless gift-a white elephant-that was lying
around. Then, each of us drew a slip of paper which determined the order of
choosing gifts. The first person chooses a wrapped gift from under the
tree; the second person can either choose a gift from under the tree or
steal the first person's gift. If a person's gift is stolen, they can
either choose another gift from under the tree or steal a gift from someone
else (with some limitations). Sorry if that confused everyone, but that's
the basic flow of the game. After everyone has gone, the gifts are opened
and-trust me on this-hilarity ensues.
Spring Term
After a Saturday practice in early April, many of us got into cars and went
over to Fireworks, which is one of those places where you choose a clay
sculpture and paint it to your liking. This happens to be my favorite
social, because I open up when I get to be creative. I'll let the pictures
do the rest of the speaking for themselves.
Concerts
Concerts are always held at 7PM during one of the last Saturdays of each
term. Though we may have smaller performances at other places, it is this
concert that we prepare for at all the practices. By this point in the
term, Gospel Choir is a well-oiled machine that can perform its songs with
awesomeness.
Fall Term: Saturday, November 6th, 2004
Winter Term: Saturday, February 19th, 2005
For this concert, we experimented with some new technology. Instead of
taking lots of photographs at different angles, we tried taping the entire
concert with a video camera. As I continue to work with DJ and ITS, I will
continue to investigate this technological adventure and the possibility of
posting material on the web.
Until then, no pictures for you!
Spring Term: Saturday, May 7th, 2004
