MSU Choir sings for change
There are numerous organizations and groups on campus that fly under the radar. However, their talents prove to be nothing less than outstanding. One great example of this would be the MSU choir.
Elisabeth Cherland, the choir director gave a lot of information about the group, but also how much music means to her personally. Cherland put it in simple terms; “It’s my art. It is a way that I express myself, music is the reason I am the choral director, I can connect with my students. We all collaborate so well”. She also went on to add, “Everyone has some shape of art that speaks to them, mine is music. I’m moved by it, it can be the simplest sound, but it contains so much meaning,” said Cherland.
Even with it being her first year as the director, she has made a huge impact. Their final concert of the year which took place on Sunday had one overarching theme: change. “It’s a good one to be wrapping up this school year with. We also had a lot of seniors in the group, so it’s a fitting theme since they will be going through a lot of change. Another significant change was the change of directors. It’s been something we’ve explored since the beginning of the year, we all changed,” expressed Cherland.
Cherland was passionate about incorporating the theme into the music. The university had three choirs perform. The groups are as follows; University Chorale, the Chamber Singers, and the Concert Choir. The University Chorale performed three pieces, Chamber did three pieces, and the Concert Choir did five pieces. There were many pieces that incorporated the idea of “change” into it. The choir also paid tribute to the seniors.
“Most of the pieces we performed touched on the idea of change,” said Cherland, “Death Came a Knockin’ gave the idea that at the end of life, death is the ultimate change. That was a powerful piece. We also sang Stomp on the Fire, this piece is dedicated to fighting back against injustice. One last example of a piece sung was To The Stars. This song was made for college students, it’s about reaching above and beyond ourselves to spark change”.
As college students, there were a lot of life examples that the young adults could relate to. “There was a verse in one of our pieces that talked about mothers and fathers’ demands. Transitioning to college, kids feel constrained by their demands. We discussed in class how it can be hard to ask for space but also to have that cushion of family to back you up. There’s a lot of things to connect with when dealing with change, I think the choir in its entirety did a phenomenal job showcasing it,” added Cherland.
Header Photo: The MSU choir sung about sparking change and reaching above, a theme they think is common for college students. (Lilly Anderson/The Reporter)
Write to Jade Jackson at jadelyn.jackson@mnsu.edu