Natalie Shriner and Jessi Higgins grew up next door to each other on Jefferson Street, down the block from First Presbyterian Church. They also sang together in the Clinton High School choir.
Now, their voices are reunited in the Clinton Community Choir.
Natalie and Jessi attended their first rehearsal of the choir’s second season last Thursday, Jan. 16, at First Presbyterian Church, but the choir actually had started rehearsing on Jan. 2.
“We moved it up a month,” Diane Hannah said of the schedule.
Diane is the administrator of the choir, which is directed by Mark Smith. Gay Smith provides accompaniment on the piano. They meet in the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian, 220 E. Franklin, where Mark and Gay are the choir directors. The church provides the rehearsal space as a service to the community.
The idea: to get people together in the winter to sing.
For the choir’s first year, in 2024, rehearsals started on Feb. 1 and ran over Easter weekend. People came from Harrisonville to Osceola and places in between, including Clinton and Deepwater, Diane said. Many have returned this year, along with new members.
This year, rehearsals are again on Thursday nights at 6:30 p.m., but just go through Feb. 20, with the free concert for the public at the performing arts center at Clinton High School on Feb. 25.
There is no charge to be in the choir. Last year, organizers also provided the sheet music, but this year, the choir received a $2,000 grant from the Truman Lake Community Foundation to cover the costs.
Other new members at last Thursday’s rehearsal were Martha Drendel of Clinton, and David Harrison, also of Clinton. Martha said she came with Penny Barker and Jane Taylor, with whom she used to sing in the Clinton Methodist Church choir. The Methodist church has not had a choir director since the music director and organist, Sam Lucas, retired. The community choir also filled a gap left when the Garden City Choir ended about five years ago.
Mark starts the singers warming up their voices by 6:20 p.m., at which time more than 30 people had come through the door last week, collected their folders of music and sat down with their section. The exercises — singing different syllables in ascending and descending scales, literally warm up the vocal cords while exercising the muscles of the mouth to shape vowel sounds correctly.
Mark announces the order of the songs is going to be rehearsed, then Gay plays an introduction and Mark signals the start of “America the Beautiful.” Stopping the music, he says that he needs to hear the “O” distinctly that starts off the song, adding that it begins softly. The four-part harmony fills the hall.
The community choir is not a Broadway choir, nor is it a church choir, Mark said, but sing a variety of types of music that is familiar to most people. This year’s selections include “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl, Karen Carpenter’s signature ballad, “Superstar,”and “Blue Velvet,” a hit for Tony Bennett in 1951 and Bobby Vinton in 1963.
This year’s inspirational songs are “A Thousand Storms” and “I Sing Because I’m Happy.” The upbeat lyrics of the latter aptly describes why people join the choir. Jessi works at home, she said, so the choir provides a social break during the winter.
“And I love singing,” she said.
Elaine VonSpreckelsen said she gave up being in a show at Heartland Community Theater to join the community choir. “Singing is my life,” she said.
The snowfall put a damper on the choir’s Jan. 9 rehearsal, but not having a full turnout was part of the price of deciding to move the start date up to January, Mark said. If there’s more bad weather, he tells the choir that he’d rather people stay home than risk an accident negotiating icy streets or sidewalks.
What’s also different this year, beside starting a month earlier:
“We’re not all strangers,” Diane said.”We all know each other from last year.”
There are no tryouts for the choir. Everyone is welcome to join. Email contact information and voice range (soprano, alto, tenor or bass) to Diane at clintoncommunitychoir@gmail.com or call her at 660-885-1875 if you have questions.
