Lifestyle
University Daily Kansan / Friday, February 9, 1990
9
Moses Smith, Junction City senior, directs the choir to clap and sway to keep the beat of the music steady during the group's warm-up Tuesday in Murphy Hall.
Praising with song
Ben Ward, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore, accompanies the choir
KU gospel choir sings for a love of the Lord
The music of the Inspirational Gospel Voices filled the corridors in Murphy Hall, as it does every Tuesday at its 6:30 p.m. rehearsal.
"They felt the need for a gospel choir on campus and decided to do something serious about it." Willis said.
"We aren't singing for show per se. we are singing to praise the Lord," said Toni Willis, president of the Inspirational Gospel Voices choir.
The group was born in 1979, when a number of KU students got together to sing gospel.
From left, Delynn McGilbray, Wichita junior, and Barbara Foster, Kansas City, Kan., freshman, sing "Help Me Lift Him Up."
Since then, the chair has become the only one of its kind on campus, she said.
one of its kind on campus. The University of Kansas has recognized the choir's quality on several occasions, such as Rock Chalk Review, Country Club Week and during its fall and spring concerts, Willis said.
About 30 silent bodies swayed like one, following the rhythmic music of a piano. A few seconds later, the group began clapping to mark the original beat, while their voices joined their bodies in singing, "Pass me not, ob gentle Savior, hear my humble cry."
However, she said, the choir is not an officially recognized student organization, so
"As long as you believe in God, it's OK. Religion is a very personal thing," Willis said.
members make voluntary offers to finance trips and other activities.
The choir's trip to the "Gospel Extravaganza" in Iowa will be the farthest it has had to travel in the last four years, Smith said.
"We also receive donations from presentations, but we never charge for singing," she said.
"We are going to do our best and to sing the best for the Lord," he said.
The director of the chair, Moses Smith, Junction City senior, said the group was gading ready to go to the Big Eight Conference at Iowa State University on Feb. 23.
Smith said the choir has had other presentations in Oklahoma City, Wichita and Illinois, although the chair mostly performed in the Kansas City area.
She said it wasn't necessary to believe in a certain relation to join the choir.
The choir has between 10 and 12 engagements each semester, and the number of members who attend rehearsals and performances fluctuate, she said.
Wills said a few people joined the choir throughout the semester, and others simply went to rehearsals to listen to their music.
The group's promotional activities begin every school year when the choir sets up an information booth at the Kansas Union to attract new members.
Nevertheless, the choir's recruitment efforts never stop.
"The Inspirational Voices is open to all University students, faculty and staff, and to non-University individuals, who are interested in sining gospel," Willis said.
I record the songs I think the chair would like, and I play them during rehearsals," he said. "In general, the group isn't very opinionated, but if they don't like the song they'll let me know, because the fact that I'm standing in the front doesn't mean that I'm superior."
Another member of the chair, Tommy Hardin, St. Louis senior, said he joined the group in 1986.
Smith, who has directed the choir for two years, said he taught the songs spontaneously.
group in his life.
"I come from a very strong Baptist background, and I've sung gospel since I was 3-years-old," he said.
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hebously.
"I don't have a specific way to do things," he said. "Everything is kind of scattered around and then it falls into place.
The group always prays before and after rehearsals, he said. "That's the most important thing to do."
"First we warm up with a song. Later, we go over other songs we knew from before to polish them up. Finally, we go ahead with new songs."
As many other members of the choir, Smith isn't a music major, and besides directing the choir, his only musical experience before college was in his high school band and as director of the choir of the Second Baptist Church in Junction City.
Because not all choir members are trained to read musical notes, Smith teaches new songs through listening.
Smith said that the group rehearsed only one and a half hours a week and that no more than two and a half songs could be prepared during that time.
Hardin said he liked the choir because everyone really pulled together, and members could be whoever they wanted to be.
"It's also a good way to meet other people," he said. "What's most important is that we are all serving the same God."
He said he was the leading male singer in more than five songs.
Delena Shaw, who has many of the women soles, said, "As far as singing soles, it doesn't matter your degree. All you have to do is to have a willing mind and you will get them."
Shaw, Wichita senior and treasurer of the choir, said singing gospel music was like sermonizing through songs.
"I joined the choir because singing is uplifting to me. It's a way of ministering to other people through music," said Shaw, who became a member of the choir in 1987.
a rehearsal visitor, Elliot Bailey, Kansas City, Kan., freshman, said he liked to go to listen to the choir once in a while.
Smith said that the group was looking forward to its spring concert on April 29 at the Kansas Union but that there wasn't a basic difference between their fall and spring concerts.
"As long as someone gets touched by our songs, it doesn't matter the season," he said.
Story by Ines Shuk Photos by Keith Thorpe
CONGRATULATIONS TO IOTA PLEDGE CLASS!
KATHY ALLEN
JAMES BAUER
JEFF FRIERMUTH
REBECCA-GRABER
ERIC ISON
MARK KEKEISEN
NANCY KNAPP
KRISTINE KOEHLER
JULIE MAYDEN
AMY MILLER
JON MOHATT
REZA SHIRAZI
JAMI SMITH
MICHAEL STITTWORTH
BRENDAN WEICHERT
DELTA SIGMA PI