Music students let their voices shine for a cause during the Keene State College Department of Music’s Chamber Singers concert on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The KSC Chamber Singers have been partnering up each semester with a local organization to provide a valuable service to the community since 2011.
“As a student, it’s easy to get sort of insular on the campus and what all is going on here and we sometimes forget about what is going on in the community,” Sandra Howard, Keene State College Music Education professor and Chamber Singers conductor, said.
Over the past few years, the singers have worked with other nonprofit and charity organizations, such as Hundred Nights Shelter, Stonewall Farm, Monadnock Conservancy and Phoenix House Keene Center.
Jake Coughlin / Multimedia Director
This year, the singers partnered up and helped out at the Monadnock Humane Society [MHS].
According to the Redfern Arts Center’s Chamber Singers Concert program, the Humane Society’s mission is solely funded by community members as MHS receives no funding for shelter operations from national organizations.
The singers took part in volunteer activities such as animal care training, painting, gardening, washing laundry and dishes.
“We walked through the door, they [the singers] saw all the animals and they were just in love and they wanted to work there,” Howard said.
“I did a work day where we dug trails and dug spots for the animals to use and stuff like that,” junior tenor singer Dimitrios Kapoukranidis said.
Even the music that was sung at this semester’s concert paid tribute to the Humane Society.
“The music for this semester was also based around animals lyrically,” Kapoukranidis said.
“Dr. Howard is really great at finding pieces that connect with charity work,” said senior student conductor Emily DeAngelis.
“We tried to infuse little bit of their mission into the music that we worked on,” Kapoukranidis added.
The singers even performed at the annual MHS fundraiser ‘The Hairball’.
“I think each ensemble in our department has a unique structure, and this one just has a different flavor to it and I think the students really like that kind of global aspect,” Howard said.
“It’s nice that we have that connection with our community and we can really see the fruit of what we do,” Kapoukranidis said.
“It makes you really feel like the music is coming from a place that’s important,” DeAngelis said.
Jake Coughlin can be contacted at jcoughlin@keene-equinox.com
