On Saturday, Feb. 2, Milligan College held the Spring 2019 Men in Song and Women in Song Choral Festival. As an annual partnership between ETSU and Milligan College, the choral festival encourages people of all ages and music expertise to join in song.
Opening with numbers from various ETSU and Milligan vocal ensembles, the audience was swept away by the precise notes and even joined in on the fun with clapping and laughter.
“I am not the most well-versed in music, but I really liked the performance,” said Milligan sophomore Luke Poff. “I particularly enjoyed ETSU’s men’s choir. All around, this was a good performance.”
For the finale, men and women from ETSU, Milligan and the general community gathered together to sing as one voice after a long day of rehearsal. Regardless of choral experience, anyone wanting to participate had the opportunity to sing with the groups – even those not majoring in music or pursuing music professionally had the opportunity to perform.
“I really loved it because it’s so diverse,” said ETSU junior and performance member Jordan Williamson. “You get to meet all these new people, and it’s not just your college choir. I’m not a music major, so for me, this is all that I have. Any opportunity to come back after I graduate, to be in the community, is really important.”
To further the community building, non-student community members were welcomed in the event. After rehearsing since 9 a.m., those both younger and older than the college-aged performers joined in for the finale to show the power and love of music in their community.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity to have all these different people – community members – from anywhere around to come and do this,” said Williamson. “I think it’s really important that there’s music no matter where you go, not just in school.”
For more information about future ETSU music events, visit https://www.etsu.edu/cas/music/events.php.
