TU’s Chorale and Sounds burst into song at Upland Community Church on March 25. They will perform many songs, including classic hymns and a piece in Korean, which they will perform again during their tour to South Korea in May.
“Typically our concerts follow a theme,” Reed Spencer, Music, Theatre and Dance department co-chair, associate professor of music and director of the Chorale and Sounds, said, “But because we’re taking this concert on an international tour it’s less of a specific theme and more just a variety of music that represents the Chorale that will give an opportunity for students to speak about the way music has impacted their faith and the work of God in their lives.”
Ethan Watts, a 2025 Taylor alumnus, wrote a song in Korean called “Seosi,” which translates to “poem,” that will be sung at this concert. The song sets a poem which many Korean people are familiar with to brand new music, Spencer said.
Singing in Korean is a challenge for the Chorale because the language includes sounds that are unfamiliar to English speakers, but this is a great intercultural learning opportunity, he said
This learning will continue when the Chorale and Sounds tour to South Korea, Klara Becker, a junior exercise science major and Chorale member, said.
“It’ll really be that concert experience, the act of performing it for people who know this language and can understand it and will really appreciate that we want to step into their culture and want to take the time to learn their language,” she said. “I think that that’s when it will become really impactful and will really be meaningful.”
This song offers the Chorale an opportunity to connect with people through their “heart language,” minister to them and be ministered to by them during their tour, Gabrielle Hamilton, a sophomore music education major and Chorale member, said.
The Chorale and Sounds will also perform several arrangements of classic hymns, including “It is Well With my Soul,” “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Praise to the Lord the Almighty.” Such pieces establish connections between Christians now, Christians throughout time and Christians across cultures, Spencer and Becker said.
“We worship the same God,” Becker said. “We have the same faith. We are connected by the same Spirit, even if we don’t speak the same language or eat the same foods or do the same things, have the same daily routine. It’s meant to be a unifying experience.”
This unifying concert she described will have been put together in a very narrow window of time.
The Chorale and Sounds wrapped up their annual Valentine Banquet in mid-February, so the singers will have only had around a month to prepare and memorize their music.
“We’re all definitely feeling the time crunch, and yet we are the Taylor Chorale,” Hamilton said. “We hold ourselves to a high standard because out of excellence comes beauty, and it’s not done by our strength, but by the Lord working through us.”
Part of that excellence comes from their ability to perform pieces both physically and vocally, engaging with the songs more closely, Becker said.
The Chorale is able to cut to the heart of songs’ themes of renewal, resurgence and ascension more vividly and offer rest to the audience, Hamilton said.
“The weather’s changing, things are changing, but also for a lot of us winter is just hard,” she said. “I think that our surroundings impact us more than we actually believe, and whether it’s through physical surroundings or what’s happening mentally or emotionally in your life spiritually, I really hope that people can come to find rest here in this music.”
