Clarion University Chamber Singers Raising Funds to Attend Music Competition in Wales

Jake Bauer

Jake Bauer

Published May 26, 2016 4:37 am
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CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Clarion University’s Chamber Singers will fly across the pond this July to compete in the 69th annual Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod in Wales, U.K.

The Chamber Singers, comprised of 24 Clarion University students, will arrive in Wales on July 6, and spend four days competing and immersing themselves in cultures from around the world.

The group is continuing to raise funds for the competition and needs a little over $20,000 to reach its goal of $90,000. Every dollar will go toward helping students with travel costs.

Professor Stephen Johnson has been the director of the Clarion University choirs for the past two years. He said the Chamber Singers have been around for 50-60 years and have never competed in a music festival at the international level.

Johnson began sending audition tapes to different festivals and eventually got accepted under the youth choir category for the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod. He wanted his students to travel outside of Clarion in order to improve upon their skills and listen to chorus groups similar to themselves.

“I really didn’t think that we would be competitive, but you don’t get anywhere unless you try, so I was very pleasantly surprised when we were invited to compete in the youth choir,” Johnson said.

Johnson and his students are excited to learn the history and culture of the places they visit. In order to warm up for the competition, the group will fly to London and perform in St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 3 and Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on July 5.

Following the competition, the Chamber Singers will travel throughout Ireland and perform at several churches, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

Johnson said that having this goal in mind has helped the group improve and strengthen their vocal skills.

“Students come to Clarion, and they think it’s a little school in the middle of nowhere, but what they don’t realize is that they can compete with anybody, and I want them to know that, and I want them to experience that. You have to take risks, of course, so that’s what this is. We’re going to go, and we’re going to compete with choirs from all over the world, and we’ll see how we stack up.”

The Chamber Singers will compete at Llangollen on July 8. If the group wins, it will move on to compete for the Choir of the World title the following day.

“They are really excited, and they use this to motivate one another. I remember, one student said something, and the other said, ‘Well you can be sure that the other choirs are practicing while we’re sitting here talking,’ and so they do use that to encourage one another and work hard,” Johnson said.

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The Chamber Singers will be performing a pre-tour concert at Lincoln Hall in Foxburg on Sunday, June 26. The event is sponsored by the Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts.

Johnson said he is grateful for the opportunity to show his students life outside of Clarion and thinks it is a nice reflection on the community and university.

“One of the big things, of course, is to get a more broad perspective of the world. These are university students, and most of them are from western Pennsylvania, went to a small high school, went to a small university and to have the opportunity to live with people from all over the world for four days–I see a lot of value in that.”

To donate to the Chamber Singers’ fund, visit change.cuf-inc.org.

(Photo and video courtesy of Stephen Johnson and Clarion University)

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