When former choir director Dr. Arthur Shearin found out that a former Harding student was serving a ten-year sentence at an Arkansas women's prison, he immediately began correspondence with the woman. Not long after their correspondence began, the young lady recommitted her life to Jesus and started up a prison choir. So began a seven-year-long-and-counting relationship between the Harding concert choir and a nontraditional choir composed of the inmates of McPherson Women's Correctional Facility. In fall2010, the concert choir under the direction of Dr. Kelly Neill made the trip once again to the women's prison, but bringing a group of 100 students into a highprofile prison was not an easy task. Social Security and driver's license numbers were submitted months in advance so that background checks could be run on each student. When they arrived at the facility, each choir member had to provide picture identification and go through metal detectors, and nothing could be brought inside. Once in the main room, which normally functioned as a mess-hall, the concert choir assembled and performed their repertoire. Brenna Smith, a senior choir member who had performed at the prison four times, said the inmates never failed to give a standing ovation at the end of the concert. According to Neill, it was the most meaningful performance of the year for many students, and choir president Mclaine Merrick agreed. "Choir is impacting these women in a fraction of the way that these women impact the choir," Merrick said. "We go in and sing for them and give them a night of good noise, essentially. They change our Iives forever." After the concert choir performed, the prison choir presented their program in return. "When they sing you can see the joy on their faces," senior Kacey Persailles said. "No matter what they have been through, they still praise God, and seeing that is the most precious and uplifting thing the women there do for us." At the end of the show, the concert choir had some time to interact with the women. "We reminded them of their sons, daughters, grandkids, missed opportunities and good intentions," junior Caroline Snell said. "The realization that these women are people just like us was quite surreal for me. Once upon a time they were young, impulsive and carefree. They have families, friends, dreams and hurts just like me - they just made a few more poor decisions." Monique jacques musical-vocal 2 2 7 ~~
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