{"id":13166,"date":"2019-04-18T21:43:06","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T03:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=13166"},"modified":"2019-05-02T18:39:01","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T00:39:01","slug":"bringing-two-families-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2019\/04\/18\/bringing-two-families-together\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bringing two families together’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the first time, the Harding University Chamber Singers are performing on the George S. Benson Auditorium stage during Spring Sing.The highly selective group of 16 students joins the hosts and hostesses, ensemble members, microphone singers and jazz band for a powerful performance of \u201cYou Will Be Found\u201d from the musical \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d to close out Act I of Spring Sing.<\/p>\n

While other vocal groups such as Concert Choir have performed in Spring Sing before, this is the first time Chamber Singers are participating. According to Kelly Neill, director of Chamber Singers, the opportunity to perform for a large audience will simultaneously be a positive experience for the members and increase exposure for the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cChamber Singers is one of the best-kept secrets on campus,\u201d Neill said. \u201cThis gives us the chance to sing for thousands of people whereas we usually sing for a hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stacey Neely, who serves as the vocal coach and music director for Spring Sing, said she first came up with the idea of adding Chamber Singers to the show after coming across an arrangement of \u201cYou Will Be Found\u201d last fall as preparations for Spring Sing were underway.<\/p>\n

She ran the idea past Neill and Steve Frye, Spring Sing director and chair of the theatre department, and both were eager to make the performance a joint effort.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe quality of their sound is really high-rate,\u201d Neely said. \u201cI thought it would add so much to what ensemble is already capable of doing and what they\u2019re capable of creating.\u201d Junior Megan Tidwell has been a member of both Chamber Singers and the mic-stand singers for the past three years. She said when the idea of joining Spring Sing was proposed to the Chamber Singers, she was fully on board and has not been disappointed in how the groups have joined forces.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt just brings the two departments together,\u201dTidwell said. \u201cI know we\u2019re in the same building, both music and theatre, but we don\u2019t get to interact very often, so it was really cool being part of both groups and getting to see them merge together … It\u2019s really fun bringing two families together.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is sophomore Brooklyn Howard\u2019s first semester as a member of Chamber Singers. She said the audience will not expect the vocal power of the combined groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just going to be watching Spring Sing, and then there\u2019s just going to be a surplus of voices, which I think is just going to be amazing,\u201d Howard said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be this big boom of sound right before intermission.\u201d<\/p>\n

The combined group of over 40 students sings \u201cYou Will Be Found\u201d from \u201cDear Evan Hansen,\u201d a Tony Award-winning musical. With lyrics such as, \u201cEven when the dark comes crashing through, when you need a friend to carry you, and when you\u2019re broken on the ground, you will be found,\u201d the song carries a powerful message for many.<\/p>\n

According to Neely, there will be limited choreography during the song so the audience can focus on the lyrics and pictures of the Harding community displayed on a video screen throughout its duration. Tidwell said she hopes the message the groups are trying to convey speaks clearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spotlight shouldn\u2019t be on us,\u201d Tidwell said. \u201cIt should be on Harding and the people that make up this beautiful community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time, the Harding University Chamber Singers are performing on the George S. Benson Auditorium stage during Spring Sing.The highly selective group of 16 students joins the hosts…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15102,"featured_media":13167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13168,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166\/revisions\/13168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}