|
|
|
PITTSBURG —
For four years Susan Laushman has been inviting women from the community to sing in a multigenerational choir with her female Pittsburg High School vocal music students.
This year she has expanded the concept to include a men’s multigerational choir as well. Both choirs will be featured in a free public concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 in the PHS auditorium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
“We have 14 men from the community in the choir, singing with boys from the PHS Encore group,” Laushman said. “We started out with more, but scheduling has been challenging for some of the men.”
Those who have been able to come out to the school and sing two mornings a week say that it’s a worthwhile experience.
“It’s great for us to be included,” said Phil Carter. “I’m really enjoying getting acquainted with the students, and impressed with the technical difficulty of the songs they sing.”
Hugh Campbell said he was also impressed with the abilities of the students and of Laushman, their teacher.
“There are a lot of nice voices here,” he said. “I’m also enjoying getting acquainted with other men from the community whom I didn’t know sang.”
There seems to be a mutual admiration society between the older and younger choir members.
Kevin McNay, PHS senior, said he was impressed by the abilities of the men from the community.
“They just came out here, got with the program and adapted to the way we’re being taught,” he said.
Bryan Stebbins said it was a great experience to hear the community men sing in their much more developed and mature voices.
“At our age our voices are still changing,” he pointed out. “It’s also nice to pick up on some other techniques.”
George Weeks said that he was impressed with the high school students.
“They are so far ahead of what I was in high school, not just in singing but also on a maturity level,” he said. “This is my first experience in being in a choir, and it’s a steep learning curve. It’s fun to experience what I can and can’t do.”
John Gladson said that he had been singing for a long time and has been in choirs before.
“But I learn something new every time I come here,” he said. “And it’s nice to see the students being so welcoming to us.”
For four years Susan Laushman has been inviting women from the community to sing in a multigenerational choir with her female Pittsburg High School vocal music students.
This year she has expanded the concept to include a men’s multigerational choir as well. Both choirs will be featured in a free public concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 in the PHS auditorium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
“We have 14 men from the community in the choir, singing with boys from the PHS Encore group,” Laushman said. “We started out with more, but scheduling has been challenging for some of the men.”
Those who have been able to come out to the school and sing two mornings a week say that it’s a worthwhile experience.
“It’s great for us to be included,” said Phil Carter. “I’m really enjoying getting acquainted with the students, and impressed with the technical difficulty of the songs they sing.”
Hugh Campbell said he was also impressed with the abilities of the students and of Laushman, their teacher.
“There are a lot of nice voices here,” he said. “I’m also enjoying getting acquainted with other men from the community whom I didn’t know sang.”
There seems to be a mutual admiration society between the older and younger choir members.
Kevin McNay, PHS senior, said he was impressed by the abilities of the men from the community.
“They just came out here, got with the program and adapted to the way we’re being taught,” he said.
Bryan Stebbins said it was a great experience to hear the community men sing in their much more developed and mature voices.
“At our age our voices are still changing,” he pointed out. “It’s also nice to pick up on some other techniques.”
George Weeks said that he was impressed with the high school students.
“They are so far ahead of what I was in high school, not just in singing but also on a maturity level,” he said. “This is my first experience in being in a choir, and it’s a steep learning curve. It’s fun to experience what I can and can’t do.”
John Gladson said that he had been singing for a long time and has been in choirs before.
“But I learn something new every time I come here,” he said. “And it’s nice to see the students being so welcoming to us.”
“I just love having all these guys come out and sing with us and mentor us,” said Ivan Walter, freshman. “I hope more come out next year.”
Will Schindler, also a freshman, has learned at least one important thing from the community men.
“Most of us won’t have musical careers, but it’s nice to see that you don’t have to stop singing after high school,” he said.
Jeremiah Jones, PHS senior, said he is a new student at PHS and had never heard of a multigenerational choir before.
“I think it’s a pretty unique thing,” he said. “It’s nice at the end of the day to turn to another guy and say, ‘I like the way you sing’.”
Kagen White, PHS sophomore, admitted that he had some doubts when he first heard that a multigenerational men’s choir was being formed.
“I thought it wouldn’t kick off, that not many guys would come out,” he said. “But they did come and we’ve made a lot of friends.”
Mason Bayliss, PHS senior, said that he had been coming to the choir room all four years of his high school career.
“We’re a family and we take care of each other,” he said. “It’s nice to have these older men come and be part of the family.”
Laushman is gratified by this feeling among her students.
“Whenever we’re somewhere else in the building, I’ll say, ‘Let’s go home’,” she said. “This isn’t my room, it’s home.”
The community men and students are agreed that Laushman is a fine and inspiring teacher. In fact, Pittsburg realtor Jim Bishop said that he was jealous of the students.
“This is a great opportunity,” he said. “I wish I could be back in high school.”
