It was another Wednesday evening at the Chapel: time to throw down those bookbags, gather around a baby grand piano and set the world aside for 45 more minutes.
But this rehearsal, like all of their rehearsals, was about much more than praise and worship for the Otterbein Gospel Choir; and even though their annual performance at the Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation Tuesday morning was steadily approaching, preparation never looked like it could be more fun.
A blend of work and play was established right from the get-go. "Did I hear a phone?" asked LaJoyce Cain, who has been the director of the choir since it started in 1989. "What did I say about phones? Every rehearsal I have to tell you guys."
Then a communal laughter erupted as their beloved director switched the busy phone in her pocket to silent with a beaming smile.
It's this combination of a tightly knit group of mostly seniors and their motivating director that forms a kind of chemistry that's hard not to notice.
"It's a more casual kind of rehearsal," said senior music major and four-year member Tanya Wilhite. "But we're such a committed group, and that's what makes it so special to all of us."
The choir's performance at the 2011 MLK Convocation went off without a hitch. Each song was followed by applause.
"It's always nice to get up there every year, but I really thought it was such a nice program," Wilhite said. "All the speeches were nicely put together, especially from the students."
Originally formed for the purpose of performing at the 1989 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, the choir is now over 20 years in the making. Thanks to an authentically positive atmosphere that has come to define the choir and its members, students keep coming back year after year.
"It's a way for students to come together and give honor and praise to God in an uplifting and warm atmosphere," Cain said. "Singing is a way of release, of freeing yourself. Gospel music teaches professionalism, and historically, students involved in choir are more involved. This is their exposure to that connection as well as to a spiritual connection."
Just ask the students and this vocal group — pun intended — is quick to fill you in on the advantages of getting involved.
"It's like that push in the middle of the week that gets you over the hump," said senior nursing major and executive administrator of the choir Kathryn Livisay. "We have so many types of people, but we all still have so much in common. It's like our little family." t&c;
