Fellowship of volunteers connects through voice

Any Tuesday evening at 7:30, walk by CenterStage, look through the windows at the corner of Grace and Seventh, and you will witness 110 people standing in formation, looking at a person with a stick in her hand, and making a funny face. It probably won't take you long to figure out that this is a chorus rehearsal. The person with the stick is me, the funny face is most likely the result of a buzzed "v-v" sound, and the group is the Richmond Symphony Chorus.

But this ensemble is more than just a collection of singers preparing for the next performance with the esteemed Richmond Symphony. It is a fellowship of volunteers giving time, sweat and goodwill to music from Vivaldi to Video Games Live. It is the fulfillment of a legacy begun 40 years ago in the greatest choral tradition of this country. And, it is a microcosm of humanity at its most perfect.

Volunteerism: Any organization would be lucky to have a core of volunteers like the Richmond Symphony Chorus. Each singer donates about 55 rehearsals or performances a year. At 2.5 hours per rehearsal, that's 137.5 hours. Multiply that by 110 singers and you get 15,125 hours of donated time per year! Some members are chorus directors, piano teachers or church musicians. Most of the group, however, spend their day doing something completely different. We have lawyers, doctors, students, full-time parents, a massage therapist, a baseball umpire and more. They all rely on that initial "v-v" sound to transition from their daily routine to a collective artistic effort. I am humbled by the dedication these musicians have to the rehearsal, the music and their colleagues.

Legacy: As the chorus switches from the "v-v" sound to a round "oo," it is listening for consistency in volume, a unified vowel and overtones, those sympathetic vibrations that occur when a sound is precisely in tune. It is not focused on the fact that the "oo" connects them to a history that began 40 years ago, when the Richmond Symphony asked University of Richmond professor James Erb to gather a chorus for a visiting conductor. That conductor happened to be Robert Shaw, a man who, from his early days with the Fred Waring Glee Club to his later years as a Grammy-winning conductor, was a legend in the choral world. (The key to his success? The listening, concentration and ensemble he encouraged through the singing of a simple "oo" vowel.)

Shaw founded the internationally recognized Robert Shaw Chorale, conducted the chorus of the Cleveland Orchestra, and had recently established the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, one of the premiere such ensembles in the country. His next step was to come to Richmond to lead one of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire: Beethoven's monumental Missa Solemnis. Singers in that December 1971 performance wrote to Shaw of the "incredible thrill" of this "life-affirming event." In the most prophetic letter, one tenor wrote: "In one's life are a few occasions that stand out like pearls, to be treasured and re-lived long after — this afternoon was certainly such for me." Of course, he was speaking metaphorically and didn't know that what became the Richmond Symphony Chorus would allow singers to literally "re-live" the experience weekly for 40 years. (That's 605,000 hours of volunteer service!)

Humanity: But, how do Beethoven, "v-v", "oo" and Robert Shaw relate to the greater community of Richmond? Why should the non-singer care that his city has a symphony chorus that meets every week to make funny faces at the woman with the stick, that will have donated nearly 1 million hours by its 50th anniversary, and that has a history connected to the greatest choral tradition in this country? The easy answer lies in the thrilling performances — those moments when students, lawyers and therapists who have toiled week after week join the talented instrumentalists of the Richmond Symphony to present pieces such as Carmina Burana and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. And, with open rehearsals, tickets at any price point and free seats for children under 18, those experiences are easier than ever to access.

But more than that, the chorus represents all that is right about humanity: folks of various backgrounds coming together to share the transformative experience of hard work, concentration, cooperation and tradition. It just so happens their medium is the human voice. A city that honors such a microcosm of human perfection will surely succeed.

Please join us on May 21 and 22 as we honor the 40th anniversary of the Richmond Symphony Chorus with a recreation of our first performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. We hope to create another pearl that we can treasure for the next 40 years.