By Anastasia Benstead, Assistant Editor-in-Chief
This year Aquinas College is sending junior Mary Kampe, junior Henry Vredevelt, junior Noah Morris and sophomore Ashlyn Armock to sing with the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus (GRSC) in both Beethoven’s 9th Symphony concert and the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings concert as part of the Choral Scholars program.
The invitation to participate in the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus came from Pearl Shangkuan, president-elect of the American Choral Directors Association and director of the GRSC. “The purpose of the Choral Scholars program was to create opportunities for students to experience performing more significant works to enhance their training,” Dr. De Leon, the former choir director of Aquinas College, said.
Dr. De Leon was the Aquinas Faculty point of contact last spring when the GRSC initially asked for student participants. In his absence, students are still excited for the opportunity, even if singing in a professional group can be daunting. “The main difference is size and rehearsal speed,” Morris said. “In the college choirs, not everyone is a music major, let alone a singer, so the director takes things much slower. At the symphony chorus, everyone is expected to know their parts and we get right to work.”
The Beethoven concert will be the first performance for the Grand Rapids Symphony of their regular season, on Friday, Sept. 12 at Devos Performance Hall and then again on Sept. 13. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings is also a two day concert, the first on Halloween night and the second on Nov. 1, both at the performance hall.
Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performing – Photo by Localspins
Pearl Shangkuan directs the GRSC – Photo by the Grand Rapids Symphony
The Saint 