Junior Joel Cox and seniors Sara Whitehouse and Rebecca DeRamus, members of the Good News Singers. perform in the Benson Audito~ rium on Sept. 26.The group performed for visi~ tors during Lectureships. -Amber Bazargani singing adifferent tune The Chamber Singers offer a diverse mix of songs Dr. CliffGanus, professor of music and director of choral activities, felt something was missing in Harding's vocal program. Amidst large vocal ensembles such as the Chorus and the Concert Choir, Ganus wanted a venue where a select group ofsingers might be exposed to challenging musical selections that were less conventional than the music sung in rhe other [wo groups; pieces that ranged in style from the Renaissance to the modern era. In the fall of2005, Ganus created the Chamber Singers to meet this need. ''I'd been thinking about doing it a long time," Ganus said. "[Chamber Singers] fills a gap in our vocal program and offers our VOCe'll students a chance to investigate a lot ofliterature." In keeping with the tradition ofchamber music which included having a few singers, Ganus started Chamber Singers with 12 students. "Chamber music is often for a small group ofperformers, sometimes just one [Q a part," Ganus said. According [Q Ganus, most ofthe students were music majors, although some of the singers did not have extensive experience in vocal music. Ganus said all those who auditioned prepared the same piece of music and then Sight-read - an advanced musical skill required of members as they delved into difficult music. Senior Lacey Fry auditioned and roined Chamber Singers in its first year. She said they sang very unusual music and most of the pieces many Chamber Singers Row I: M.T<U1ksley. L Fry,A Murray. L HamiH, P. Edmison. Row 2: L Hoggatt, B. Gatlin.T. Kaye, D. Gerst. E. Brewster. Row 3: S. Frazier. B. Foy, C. Ganus (sponsor). • • 220 organizations] people had never heard before. "That's kind of Dr. Ganus' motivation for singing most of the stuff that we do," Fry said. "Because nobody has ever heard it, and he wams to get some new literature out there, so that people can hear new things." Senior Alice-Anne Murray joined the group in 2005. Murray said she was interested in Chamber Singers as an experience builder as it was more specialized than the other vocal ensembles and required a higher level of talent and commitment of its members. "We don't tour as much [as the other vocal ensembles], but we get to do some more interesting things that most people are never exposed ro," Murray said. Chamber Singers had fewer performances than the other vocal ensembles. During the fall semester, the group performed Sept. 27 at Lectureships and presemed a Christmas concert Dec. 3, whereas other vocal ensembles often had weekend performances either on campus or at local churches. Murray said what distinguished Chamber Singers from the other vocal ensembles was its caliber of musical talent and the difficulcy of the musical selections they sang. Ganus said Chambers Singers benefited both its members and its listeners by broadening their musical horiwns. "For the sake of [the singers] and their audiences, it's exposure to a lot of music they wouldn't encounter otherwise," Ganus said. -Jennifer Merrill Chorus Row I: M. Lynn, L. McLain,j. Roosevelt,J. Turner. N. Wilkinson, T. Brown,j. Barnett, D. Gerst. A. Saponara. Row 2: T. Kaye,T. Thompson, C. Kraus, E. Harrell, B. Roberts, E. Griffith, B. Gatlin,j. Flor– ence. Row 3: A. Bradley, S. Frazier, R. DeRamus. L. Crabb,j.Tapley, R. Wheeler, j. Cox, C. Krawczyk. Row 4: B. Abell,j. Hendrix, A. Gerst, B. Lancaster,j. Hughes,A. Ritchie,j. Merrill,j. Cook, P. Edmison, T. Lybrand. Row 5:]. Merrill, B. Light, H.Witt, C. Fleming, C. Keese, L. Hoggatt. K. Perkins,A. Murray, T.Wisely, A. Moran. Row 6: S. Light, C. Cantrell. D. Lee, E.jones, D.Walton, M. Rambaran. B. Keller, L. Pippins, I.Thomas. Row 7: J. Fedor,T. Skelley, E. Brewster. S.Vanderburg, E. Burchfield, S.Young, M. Lenon, A. Lytle, K. Cozzens.
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