By Sarah McMillin, Staff writer
The University Choir went on tour to various churches in the Northeast over Susquehanna’s spring break.
The tour took place from March 10 to March 18 and included performances every day of the tour.
The planned stops were Danville, Ardmore, Nazareth, Robesonia, Shillington and Wernersville in Pennsylvania, Boston and Providence, R.I.
The performances outside of Pennsylvania, however, were canceled due to the weather when the choir was snowed in. The tour paused on March 13 and 14 and resumed on March 15.
Sophomore Dalton Bierly said, “It was a very unique experience and I’m glad it worked out in the end.”
Other students also noted what the choir made of the tour, despite the temporary weather-related setback.
Junior Michaela Wagner said, “Even though we didn’t make it to Boston, choir tour was a lot of fun.”
“It was really great getting to hear our sound in so many different spaces, since each space had different acoustics,” Wagner continued.
Each performance was free and open to the public.
In addition to the church performances, the choir also performed in Philadelphia high schools.
Junior Jason Pandelidis said, “It was nice to bring music to people in unique places.”
In addition to this year’s locations, the choir has previously toured in Macungie, Phoenixville and Lewisburg in Pennsylvania, Beachwood, N.J., Owensboro, K.Y., Huntsville and Birmingham in Alabama, Minden and New Orleans in Louisiana, Peachtree City, G.A. and Blacksburg, V.A.
Other members of the choir cited the opportunity to perform with their peers.
Senior Andrew Davis said, “It was a great chance to make music with my peers for the last time.”
First-year Allison Steinert agreed and said, “It was really great to be able to tour and make beautiful music with some awesome people.”
This year, the choir was directed by Christopher Hoster, visiting assistant professor of music and director of choral activities. Hoster also graduated from Susquehanna in 2008.
Hoster is in the process of earning his doctorate from the University of Illinois.
Hoster followed Julia Thorn as the director of the choir, who had previously led the group for multiple years.
Amy Voorhees-Hall, a doctoral student in choral conducting at Michigan State University, was announced as the director of choral activities for next year. Voorhees-Hall will also take a position as professor on campus.
Voorhees-Hall earned her master’s degree in education from Drake University and has served as the director of choral activities at Waukee High School, as well as the director of vocal music for Des Moines public schools, both in Iowa.
The University Choir will also perform with the Chamber Singers on Friday, April 13 in Stretansky Concert Hall. Both music groups will be conducted by Hoster.
Other performances from the music department throughout the rest of the semester include multiple student recitals, guest artist recitals from Trio Kisosen and Christina Dahl with Oksana Ezhokhina, an opera performance, the student composers concert and annual end-of-theyear concerts performed by university ensembles.