Dr. Kimberly Dunn Adams, the director of choral activities at Western Michigan University, knew the pandemic would drastically reduce in-person singing. She also knew that her students wanted to be as productive as possible and make a difference. Then she remembered the wedding of some dear friends, in which the couple offered tokens representing donation amounts in place of favors, encouraging their guests to assign their tokens to selected charities. It sparked a months-long project called Choir for Good.
In an interview with Cara Lieurance, Dr. Adams describes how the student-led project began with teams of eight singers, who safely rehearsed and recorded a variety of works. Then they explored how the meaning of the pieces could mirror the work done by a charitable organization they researched. The result is a thougthful interactive online publication. Each piece is paired with a paragraph about its meaning, and an introduction to a non-profit organization working to solve an issue. Sophomore Jack Reeves joined the conversation to share his experience working on Choir For Good. He's grateful that he was able to grow as a musician, composer and person during a difficult time. The interactive program can be found here.
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