Community signs for New Orleans college choir
Andrew Riggs / The Collegian
Fresno State students and community choir groups lifted their voices in song Monday to help raise money for the University of New Orleans and its choir program, which was devestated by Hurricane Katrina. |
By Morgan Steger
The Collegian
Notes of charity filled Fresno State’s Concert Hall Monday night, as Fresno area choirs joined together to raise money for the hurricane-ravaged University of New Orleans’ Music Department.
The concert, “How Can I Keep From Singing?” was inspired by Tara Melvin, a UNO choir student who came to Fresno State after Hurricane Katrina forced the evacuation of New Orleans.
Melvin immediately connected with Fresno State students, and though she has since returned to New Orleans, a lasting bond has been forged between the two schools, said Fresno State concert choir director Anna Hamre. “We just feel she’s still one of ours,” Hamre said.
That bond, and Melvin’s first-hand account of the devastation Hurricane Katrina wrought on UNO’s Music Department, led Fresno State’s Concert Choir and Chamber Singers to invite Fresno City College’s Concert Choir and City Singers and Gibson Elementary School’s Gold Notes choir to take part in Monday evening’s performance, the proceeds of which benefit UNO’s Music Department.
Fitting to the occasion, the concert included a Southern favorite, “Oh Susanna,” and “How Can I Keep From Singing?” a song about overcoming obstacles through the bonds of friendship.
“Motherless Child,” by Fresno’s Concert Choir, featured the lyrics “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, a long way from home,” which spoke powerfully to the situation many evacuees found themselves in after Katrina.
Tanisha Brooks, a CSUF graduate student majoring in social work, said one reason she came to the concert was because it benefited those affected by the hurricane. After Katrina destroyed their homes, Brooks’ uncle and his family members fled their home state of Louisiana and evacuated to Texas. Brooks said all her family members got out safe, but they lost everything. Brooks thought the concert was an excellent vehicle for helping people in New Orleans recover. “Every little bit helps,” she said.
The highlight of the concert was “With Cat-like Tread,” a piece from “Pirates of Penzance,” which featured choir members dressed as pirates, complete with hoop earrings, eye-patches and a faux parrot. Victor Ommar Solis, a Fresno State choir member and one of the portrayed pirates, said he was nervous to sing in character but felt at home in his deck-swabbing costume once he heard the audience’s appreciative response.
Solis, who got to know Melvin while she was at CSUF, said he was glad to see the community come out to support the concert’s cause. “We feel really grateful that they were actually being a part of the purpose of this fund-raising event,” he said.
Hamre asked the audience to join in the last song, “Down by the Riverside,” which was performed by all the choirs, but was truly owned by the Gold Notes, who sang with all the capacity of their pint-sized lungs and swayed their hips jauntily to the beat.
The total amount raised to help the University of New Orleans hasn’t been tabulated, but Hamre said she believes several hundred dollars were raised. Hamre said she was pleased with the concert’s turnout, especially since it was held on a Monday night.
Hamre said a videotape of the performance will be sent to UNO in addition to the choir proceeds.
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