Lindsey Wilson Singers Perform Tonight!

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- The Lindsey Wilson College Singers went West earlier this month, and area residents can hear all about it Thursday night.

The Lindsey Wilson Singers will give their annual “Spring Homecoming Concert” at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, March 20, at Columbia Baptist Church, 201 Greensburg St. It is free and open to the public.

Under the direction of LWC Associate Professor of Music Gerald Chafin, the 31-member choral ensemble toured last week throughout Colorado and New Mexico, where they performed at several churches as well as the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Thursday night’s concert, which will last about an hour, will offer sacred music performed both a cappella as well with musical accompaniment. The concert will also include a piano-violin duet by LWC freshman Hannah Warren of Columbia and LWC music instructor Wan Soo Cho.

LWC student Rebekah Sanders of Waynesville, Ohio, said the program’s musical diversity should appeal to a broad range of audience members.

“Some of the pieces sound like what you would hear in a cathedral, and others are a lot more upbeat and contemporary,” Sanders said.

One of the more intriguing songs that will be performed Thursday night is an international interpretation of the African-American spiritual “Soon I Will Be Done.” Part of it will be sung in Korean.

“The reason for that is that song is really popular in South Korea, which is an interesting fact we would not have known without Mr. Cho, who is from South Korea,” Sanders said.

The hymn “Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed?” fits well with the Lenten season of preparation, said LWC freshman Carolyn Laux of Louisville, Ky.

“The text of the piece is very somber, and we recently studied the crucifiction in my ‘Christian Beliefs’ class, which made the text even more meaningful to me to perform,” she said.

LWC senior Caitlyn Harrod of Springfield, Ky., said performing the song “Wordless Prayer” by Craig Courtney is a very emotional experience for her.

“It starts to talk about ‘My words lie still and lifeless,’ and you kind of stay on this one pitch throughout the whole piece, like you are lost for words -- you are lost for your melody, you don’t know where else to go,” Harrod said. “And in the chorus it says, ‘Spirit, come and rest your ear upon my heart.’ It really speaks to me … tears just come to my eyes, and I feel like it’s more of a prayer than anything.”

Sanders, who just completed her second spring tour with the Lindsey Wilson Singers, said the “Spring Homecoming Concert” is always a special event because it is performed right after members of the Singers spend a week that includes traveling, singing and growing.

“Last year, veteran Lindsey Wilson Singers told me what an amazing experience it was,” she said. “I believed them, but it’s just not something you can understand yourself. It really was a life-altering experience. It was really amazing, just how close you become with other Singers, and the people you meet and perform for. … When we get to share our music with an audience and see the reactions on their faces, that’s such a rewarding experience.”

The Lindsey Wilson Singers will perform their Spring Homecoming Concert at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, March 20, at Columbia Baptist Church, 201 Greensburg St.

LWC SINGERS SPRING 2014 -- Under the direction of Associate Professor of Music Gerald Chafin, the Lindsey Wilson Singers are:

SOPRANO

Emmalee Baker of Columbia; Abigail Calhoun of Lexington, Ky.; Caitlyn Harrod of Springfield, Ky.; Ashley Perkins of Greensburg, Ky.; Chelsea Pike of Campbellsville, Ky.; Rebekah Sanders of Waynesville, Ohio; Brittany Smith of Albany, Ky.; and Hannah Warren of Columbia.

ALTO

Amber Clark of Kennesaw, Ga.; Kailyn Conner of Albany, Ky.; Haley Hicks of Edmonton, Ky.; Maria Hook of Louisville, Ky.; Katie Koper of Central City, Ky.; Carolyn Laux of Louisville, Ky.; Emily Ramage of Columbia; and Bailey Scott of Auburn, Ky.

TENOR

Jesse Baize of English, Ind.; Troy Butler of Albany, Ky.; Jacob Bryant of Louisville, Ky.; Andrew Ferguson of Columbia; Will Reynolds of Campbellsville, Ky.; and Marcus Wethington of Campbellsville, Ky.

BASS

Keegan Burney of Pewee Valley, Ky.; Stephen Chafin of Columbia; Jeremy Cloyd of Tompkinsville, Ky.; Quenton Ford of Campbellsville, Ky.; Charlie Gibson of Frakes, Ky.; Jared Hunter of Albany, Ky.; A.J. Robinson of Radcliff, Ky.; and Eli Young of Greensburg, Ky.