Choral Society seeks more singers
Keep calm and join the choir. So says the Susanville Choral Society’s Artistic Director and Conductor, Liudmila Mullin.
“We are gearing up to head into our 2019-2020 concert season, and we wanted to get the message out to the community that new singers are always welcome to join us,” Mullin said. “The choral society rehearses from 6:30 to 8 p.m. most Wednesday evenings at Lassen Community College in Chapman Hall. Our singers have a wide mix of experience, with some having little or no experience, while others are long-time veteran choristers. Some of our singers read sheet music well, while others not so — although learning to read sheet music seems to naturally occur over time when you’re singing with us.”
When asked about singer auditions, Liudmila said the group does not audition singers.
“We prefer to just have people join us in rehearsals. With rare exception, people generally fit right in,” Mullin said.
Asked about the difficulty of the music, Liudmila said she likes to keep people challenged, although, “there is a constant balancing act.”
“Liudmila prefers to perform music in the language in which it was originally composed,” said Shirley Bowden, an alto voice and one of the Choral Society’s original members. “Over the years we’ve performed in Spanish, French, German, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, lots of Latin and of course English. I must say some of the music selections we have performed have been extremely challenging for the group and me, but she makes sure to balance the tough stuff with the easy stuff, so it’s not all-consuming.”
Asked about how serious the group is, Mullin responded, “I think the singers and instrumentalists have fun as a group. That’s not to say that we don’t work hard and put lots of energy into each concert. We operate with a common goal, and that is to produce the best choral music concerts possible, both for our own personal enrichment and the enrichment and delight of our audiences. I see no reason why our 2019-2020 won’t be our finest season thus far.”
According to Mullin, the Susanville Choral Society’s inaugural season was in 2012, making the upcoming season its eighth.The first concert of the new season will be Friday, Nov. 22.
“I would love to recruit some new singers to join us in time for our November performance,” Mullins said. “Just give it a try!”
The Susanville Choral Society may be contacted at 251-6738 or by email at susanvillesingers@yahoo.com or by visiting the group’s Facebook page at Susanville Choral Society.
