ETSU’s Department of Music hosted their final choir concert, “Love and Loathing,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19.

Throughout “Love and Loathing” the audience had a chance to hear the ETSU Chorale, Bucs Worth, and the East Tennessee Belles. Throughout the program, the audience was able to listen to many different styles of vocal music, from “Dance in the Graveyards” to a version of “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish.

A special part of the program was the song “Coal’s Journey” composed by Julian Rios, both a freshman and the department’s first voice-focused composition major. “Coal’s Journey” is his first choral premiere created with the Sing Me A Story Foundation based on a story by Samson, an 11-year-old boy in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

“When we first started Coal’s Journey, I didn’t realize how important it was, and then towards the day before the concert we were able to meet Samson, and it impacted us in a way that we both performed and cared about the song,” Elijah Reid, sophomore and Chorale singer stated.

Photo taken during the final choir concert. (Abby Trembeczki/East Tennessean)

Samson is not just an ordinary 11-year-old. Fighting medical issues for multiple years now, Samson makes the trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, several times a year for medical visits. In addition to his trips, he also has an implanted electromagnet to help his body function better. The past year Samson was given the opportunity to partner with Karl’s Heart Foundation and Sing Me A Story to write a book.

“I thought it was probably one of the best concerts we performed in my two years being here,” Reid shared.

In addition to the beautiful meaningful “Coals Journey,” the Department of Music provided a variety of wonderful music, capturing the audience’s hearts.

“I thought that it was extremely well organized and that the variety of music was great. They included Latin, modern, and pop, which seems hard to combine. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert the Department of Music provided us,” David Cotton, ETSU student shared.

While this was the last concert for the spring semester, there will be many opportunities for you to listen to the ETSU Chorale, Bucs Worth, and the East Tennessee Belles next year! You can find more information on their site etsu.edu/music, their Instagram @GoETSUMusic and their Facebook at facebook.com/ETSUMusic.