KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports, classifiedsASU Choir is bound for Little Rock

ASU Choir is bound for Little Rock

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JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) - Arkansas State University's choir is heading to Little Rock, to perform with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.

Interim Dean of the College of Fine Arts at ASU and the Director of Choral Activities, Dr. Dale Miller, says they haven't had the opportunity to do this for some time. "This is the first time we've sung with the Arkansas Symphony since 2003," Miller said. "We found out about this last spring, so we've been working on it all year."

Miller says this is going to be an exciting opportunity for the students. "Our students will have the opportunity to perform a work that's not easily done by a single university," Miller said. "The students will have the opportunity to sing a great piece of music. They will also have the opportunity to sing with other singers."

Miller says they will also learn what it takes to perform a piece much larger than what they are used to performing. "They learn what it takes to put together a piece of that size, of that magnitude," Miller stated. "They learn what their significance is to the overall product. If there are no singers in the chorus, there's no Beethoven ninth. If there are not a lot of singers in the chorus, you have to cut down the size of the orchestra. And if you cut down the size of the orchestra, then you've diminished the whole piece."

Students' freshman age through graduate students will be performing, and around 60 students from the ASU choir will be performing Beethoven's ninth symphony. There will be 400 singers on stage, plus the orchestra. They will be in Little Rock rehearsing and performing Thursday through Sunday.

Miller says they'll also be traveling to a number of high schools in the area and performing there for them before their evening performance. "Music is bigger than one person," Miller said. "But it takes one person to make humongous music. It is magnificent music and it was created by one man."

For more information about Arkansas State University's Choir, you can log onto their website.

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