Mark and Gay Smith are starting a community choir in Clinton in February, but if you ask Mark what kind of music the choir will sing, he’ll reply that he can’t tell you.
He can say what the choir won’t be.
“It won’t be a church choir, and it won’t be a pop choir,” he said.
Mark and Gay are the music directors at First Presbyterian Church, 220 E. Franklin, where the community choir will meet in the fellowship hall on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., starting Feb. 1.
The reason he doesn’t know what music the choir will sing is that he doesn’t know how many people will sign up, he said.
“Once we have a general idea of the numbers, then we can pick out the music,” Mark said. “It will be a mix of genres.”
Diane Hannah, who is organizing the effort, has had a good response to the call for participants she posted online, Mark said. Asked how many people they need to form a choir, Mark replied “We only need what we get.”
“At least four to six people per section would be nice,” Mark said, “and more would be nicer.”
Mark, a 1964 graduate of CHS, played clarinet and saxophone in the CHS high band under band director Ross Kelsey, he said. Gay hails from the Park Grove community, south of Clinton between Deepwater and Lowry City.
Both musicians attended Central Missouri State, now the University of Central Missouri, where they met. Both taught music at schools in the area, including Clinton, Leeton and Harrisonville. They have never organized a community choir, they said, but have been the music directors at FPC for more than 40 years. They also play in the Warrensburg Community Band in the summer, and in Jim Raysik’s band once a year in the Deepwater parade.
Forming a community choir was the idea of several people at First Presbyterian, they said, including minister Nancy Gillard, Diane Hannah and Raymond Hartner.
“Nancy Gillard believes in outreach, and Raymond is always looking for ways for our people and our facility to be involved in the community,” Mark said.
Anyone who can carry a tune can join the choir. You do not need to be able to read music. The idea is to connect with other people doing something you enjoy, to add a little spark to the winter months.
“We’re going to have a good time getting together with people who enjoy singing,” Gay said. “We have a lot of fun and laugh a lot at church choir rehearsal. People enjoy being in the choir.”
The First Presbyterian Church choir consists of 12 to 16 singers, Mark said. He directs the choir, and Gay is the accompanist on the piano or organ.
Mark is trying to research what music is available in town, he said, but with the Advent season, most people are busy. He did say it will probably include something bluesy, or a spiritual.
“The sooner I know how many people are singing, the sooner I can start getting organized picking out music,” Mark said.
The community choir will rehearse for 90 minutes on Thursday nights, starting on Feb. 1, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Rehearsals will go through mid-April, when a performance for the public is scheduled in the Performing Arts Center at Clinton High School.
To sign up for choir, email Diane Hannah, clintoncommunitychoir@gmail.com, and indicate whether you sing soprano, alto, tenor or bass. There is no charge to participate.
For more information, contact Diane Hannah at the email address, or check her Facebook page.
