Catalyze

Since the moment in 1932 when Juniata college's newly integrated co-educational choir performed during a spring trip to Altoona, Pa., the joining of student voices in song has bound generations together through shared experience and love of music.

“It was the first time they let the men and women sing together because it was such an emotional experience. Before 1932, they kept the choirs separated because they believed it was too intimate,” said Russell “Russ” Shelley, director of choral and vocal activities and chair of the music department. “When they combined them, they became the Juniata Concert Choir.”

Since that fledgling tour to a neighboring city, the Juniata Concert Choir has toured in 28 countries and six continents. This tradition of celebrating the College’s global connections through musical performance was a rite of passage for students.

Until 2020.

The spring tour for 2020 was set for Patagonia in Chile, with departure planned for the Friday preceding spring break. Rising COVID-19 case numbers and rapid updates from around the world meant the situation was ever evolving.

“The first decision we had to make regarding COVID-19 was whether to allow the choir to travel to Chile. COVID was not in South America yet, but our thinking changed betwee n 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. that day,” said Provost Lauren Bowen. “The thought originally was to normalize things, not to be alarmist. I had always assumed we’d be able to manage a virus without it becoming a crisis. Somewhere in the middle of the day, the concern shifted to the possibility the choir would be stranded and unable to get back to the United States.”

The cancellation of the trip was understandable, but crushing.

“It was heartbreaking, even if that word doesn’t begin to describe it,” Shelley said. “I know it was the right decision in my heart of hearts. It was the best decision, but my regret lingers to this day.”

Choral singing was deemed a major risk for the transmission of COVID-19 early in the pandemic.

The physical act of singing—coordinating breathing, and voice—raised the risk of aerosolized droplets spreading the virus widely among the performers and their audience.

“I remember the day I read a national headline, ‘Singing is Deadly.’ For a person whose life and career are bringing people together to sing, that was really hard,” Shelley said. “It sums up the worst of the worst days.”

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and finally, a year had passed. The spring 2021 choir tour to Kosovo was also canceled.

“This Juniata tradition means everything to me. This group helped me grow not only as a singer, but as a person. I’ll always remember the experiences I’ve had with the Concert Choir,” said Molly Harris ’21. “It was disappointing to lose the tours that were scheduled for my last two years of college.”

The music had gone silent for a time at Juniata.

SYNTHESIZE

THE JOY IN JOINING VOICES TOGETHER IN HARMONY, EVEN WHILE TRADITIONAL REHEARSALS AND PERFORMANCES WERE IMPOSSIBLE, REUNITED MEMBERS OF THE CONCERT CHOIR UPON THEIR RETURN TO CAMPUS.

“For the fall of 2020 and spring 2021, there were no concerts,” said Shelley. “We had rehearsals in Rosenberger Auditorium, with the members positioned nine feet apart, fully masked in the audience section.”

Central to the choral experience is the interplay of voices, listening to fellow singers, and being immersed in sound.

“It was the furthest thing from a choral experience you can imagine,” he said. “They were doing it for the love of singing.”

Harris had been active in choir in high school, encouraged by a friend to audition during her senior year. She loved the dynamics created among choir members and between the ensemble
and the audience.

“I always knew I wanted to continue singing in college. We all work incredibly hard on our repertoire to ensure that our audience members feel this connection,” said Harris. “It’s rewarding to watch this play out during a performance.”

Frank Dorman III ’25, of Brownsville, Vt., had learned of Juniata Concert Choir’s excellent reputation while exploring colleges. He looked forward to sharing his love of music with his peers while at Juniata.

“When it comes to singing and performing, I enjoy the feeling of pride I get when I’m able to present something that I have worked hard on for some time,” said Dorman. “I have always had a love of music, and I enjoy analyzing the music that I sing and finding parts of it that are interesting to me. I also like to see people be entertained or ‘made happy’ for lack of a better term, from something that I create.”

For the more senior members of the choir, this “new normal” was an anomaly. Harris and other returning choir members had experienced rehearsals and performances on the stage in Rosenberger Auditorium. They had entertained audiences on campus and on tour.

For those joining Juniata’s Concert Choir in a pandemic reality, like Dorman and his peers, it was an alien experience.

“A lasting consequence is that of the first-year students who joined choir in the fall of 2020, 80 percent did not stay in Concert Choir,” Shelley said. “They didn’t persist because they didn’t have a choral experience. They decided their time would be better spent doing something else.”

One small benefit of the masked and distanced rehearsals was a marked improvement in diction as vocalists worked to counteract the muffling caused by mouths swathed in fabric.

By the second fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, after working through all the difficult, distanced rehearsals of the past year, Juniata’s Concert Choir took to the stage once more to do what they loved most.

Shelley predicts it may be years before the choir returns to its previous membership and vigor, but the shared experience has created strong bonds among the current members. It was an experience these vocalists will not easily forget.

“Our first concert was in November 2021. It was beyond fantastic. We couldn’t believe the day had finally come,” said Shelley. “At that point, only our juniors and seniors had ever performed in a Juniata concert. For the seniors and me, it was bittersweet. We were aware of what we had lost, but thankful we were back to doing something similar to what we loved.”

ENERGIZE

TO TRULY UNDERSTAND THE CHERISHED TRADITION OF THE JUNIATA CONCERT CHOIR TOUR IS TO LOOK AT EACH DESTINATION AS AN OUTGROWTH OF A RELATIONSHIP. CONNECTIONS WITH ALUMNI, FACULTY, AND FRIENDS OF JUNIATA COLLEGE PAVE THE WAY FOR NEW ADVENTURES AND NEW AUDIENCES.

So, after a two-year hiatus from traveling, the news that the voices of Juniata would again be heard around the world was met with rejoicing.

“The first post-COVID Juniata international trip took place during fall break with Neal Utterback (associate professor of theatre arts) and Phil Dunwoody (professor of psychology),” Shelley said.

“When they came back and reported success, that’s when we got the green light. The door was opened and we were given permission to travel.”

Only the seniors in the choir had ever been on a Juniata Concert Choir tour, and those who had never been a part of one were eager to carry on the tradition of international touring, which began in 1994.

The concept of regular international touring for the Juniata Concert Choir began as an offshoot of the alumni tours, which began the year prior. The goal was to provide an international opportunity for undergraduates and keep the cost as low as possible.

“We took around 40 students that first year,” Shelley said. “At least 35 didn’t have passports. At least 12 of them had never been on an airplane. Some had never been out of Pennsylvania. That tour was a success, and the students were ecstatic.”

Each tour signified an outgrowth of the special place relationships have in the hearts of Juniatians around the world. The canceled trips, Chile in 2020 and Kosovo in 2021, are examples of this. The first tour was organized through a connection Shelley had formed with two South American guitarists who visited Juniata in 2019. Kosovo had been selected as a venue with the assistance of Sarah Ullom-Minnich ’18, who was a Peace Corps volunteer after graduating from Juniata.

During a trip to Germany, France, and Switzerland in January 2019, Shelley and the members of the choir became friends with travel agent Elmar Wild, who drove their bus. The choir made such an impression on him that he flew to the United States to visit Juniata and attend the spring concert in 2019.

“Through his agency in Germany, he had many connections in Scotland,” Shelley said. “Because he had people on the ground in Scotland, I felt safe having that be our first location after COVID.”

Among the 38 choir members and alumni were recent graduates who had missed their long-anticipated senior choir tour.

“I have performed in Germany, Switzerland, France, Morocco, and Scotland. In our most recent tour to Scotland, we were also able to visit the Netherlands and drive through England,” said Harris. “I felt extremely grateful to be able to travel with the choir again.”

Performances were held in Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam.

“It means a great deal to me to be a part of this because these are opportunities that I may never have again,” Dorman said. “It’s more than just traveling, especially with a group that is contributing to the community when they go. It is about learning the culture, meeting people, and providing a little music along the way. To have been able to do that is one of many reasons why I feel humbled and grateful to be a part of this tradition.”