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Pearson
to sing
with Lawrence Children’s Choir
Choir
to perform Nov. 16 in Osage City
Bob Hanson
Special to The Herald-Chronicle
OSAGE CITY—Paige Pearson has no doubt about what the audience
will feel at the upcoming local performance of The Lawrence Children’s
Choir.
“You will not be disappointed,” the 11-year-old choir
member said. “It will be spectacular.”
Paige, the daughter of James and Dawn Pearson of rural Osage City,
is a second-year member of the choir’s 80-member traveling
ensemble. The performance, at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 16, in the Osage City
High School auditorium, is scheduled to have 18 of the choir’s
musical selections on the program. Cello and trumpet accompaniment
to some pieces are also scheduled.
“Expect the unexpected,” Paige said. “There will
be lots of surprises.”
The choir’s repertoire consists of everything from show tunes
to classical pieces sung in foreign languages.
The performance is part of the Osage City Arts Council’s
2008 schedule of events. Tickets can be purchased at the door.
Paige became a member of the elite group after auditioning at the
urging of Amy Hanson, former Osage City vocal music instructor and
current Arts Council board member. The choir rehearses for 90 minutes
every Monday evening at West Junior High in Lawrence.
The traveling choir, composed of fifth- through ninth-grade students,
learns “quite a few hard pieces,” according to Paige,
including several in German, Spanish, Latin and French, as well
as English.
“It’s pretty confusing at first, but you get used to
it,” she said. “But it’s pretty darn hard.”
The choir began in 1991 and is still under the direction of Janeal
Krehbiel of Lawrence. Members have toured nationally and internationally,
including performances at Carnegie Hall in New York (twice) and
tours to England and Germany.
In summer 2009, the Touring Choir will be in Lithuania, in eastern
Europe. This past summer the group, including Pearson, was part
of the Sing-A-Mile High Children’s Choral Festival in Denver.
The Touring Choir has recorded five CDs containing approximately
150 selections. In addition to Pearson’s group, there
is a choristers group of children in grades 3-5 and a Cadenza group
of singers in grades 1-3. Auditions are conducted each spring.
The concept of the Lawrence Children’s Choir is to promote
quality singing while helping students gain qualities that will
enable them to become tomorrow’s leaders. That is shown
in their work, Paige indicated, by the choir’s response
to director Krehbiel’s rehearsal instructions.
“When something isn’t going well in practice,”
Paige said, “Mrs. Krehbiel will say, ‘Change your vowels,’
and we’ll respond, ‘Change your life.’” |
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