November 28, 2017
Lauren Butler
MUS 1310 – University Choir, a choir class offered on campus, serves as more than just a single credit course that students can take to expand their vocal abilities.
“I went from barely being able to sing to being able to hit notes. It has helped me to be more confident in my voice like I would have never imagined before,” said junior theater major David Baxter.
This semester, 30 students are participating in choir this semester, and the class currently meets every Wednesday for two hours to practice.
The class held a performance, directed by choir professor Solveig Olsen, who instructs the class, on Nov. 17.
Once the Music Program and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts moves to the Ent Center, choir would like to change their meet times to two to three days a week for 45 minute sessions.
Students who enjoy performing and finding a different way to express themselves will enjoy the class, according to Olsen.
“For students who like to perform. it is a way to participate as much or as little as they feel comfortable, it is kind of a way to express yourself. It is different than taking an acting class where everyone has to participate, instead, as you grow into your comfort level you can participate as you choose,” Olsen said.
According to Olsen, students are not only at various levels of singing, but they also have diverse majors.
“We have everybody from all sorts of majors: engineering, computer science, criminal justice, psychology and others,” she said.
“[Choir] is for everybody on all different levels. Most people who have had the class find that it is a really fun relief from all the other classes. Some just want a fun class and some have been in choir for years.”
Robert Gordon, a sophomore theater major, joined choir last year and he found it easy to make friends in choir and further his own development as a singer.
“It’s a great place to meet new people and see how their voices fit with yours,” Gordon said.
“It is a class that opens your mind to different styles of music, because there are more than one. It can change your opinion about music, and singing different genres can bring you to enjoy other types of music.”
Olsen gives her students the opportunity to become comfortable with their voices and creates an atmosphere that makes students grow comfortable to sing in front of their peers.
“I take more of an unconventional approach, I ask what the students are interested in and plan my curriculum around that, this semester we are doing more classical music. That [way] it is fun for everybody,” she said.