Choral Excellence in Columbus, Indiana!

Yesterday I ventured down to Columbus, Indiana for the "Voices of Spring" concert presented by the Columbus Indianapolis Children's Choir. Columbus is the oldest and most established of all of ICC's regional choirs, and the only one thus far to have split into two ensembles. With all of these accomplishments, I've been remiss at not making the trip sooner!

The concert, under the guidance of CICC's Artistic Director Ruth Dwyer, was a delight! The kids sounded great, and an appreciative audience was not only treated to the Columbus Descant and Concert choirs, but also the Indianapolis Youth Chorale. The CICC kids sang with a precision one doesn't normally hear from such young singers, and IYC treated the audience to an seemingly impossible eight-part Indian Raga. IYC Director Cheryl West said about two weeks ago her singers nearly threw in the towel with this piece. But they stuck with it, and it was not only a unique treat for the audience, but the younger singers as well. Something to aspire to. A great moment happened when Ruth Dwyer was introducing the IYC singers, and took time to ask "How many of you were ever in a 'Dwyer Choir'?" Nearly every IYC hand went up!

The concert ended with Ruth asking the audience to join all three choirs in singing Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." We can only speculate on why a Russian immigrant wrote such an inspiring tribute to the United States, so popular that a stirring rendition was sung by members of the United States Congress on the steps of the US Capitol on September 11, 2001. I would bet he wrote it, because as Ruth Dwyer told the audience "Music just makes us feel better." And yesterday afternoon, it certainly did.