“Stand up, everyone, look alive and awake!” Choir Leader Eric Dudley said. The room of people excitedly got up, stretched, then did what they do every Tuesday evening – sing.
Composed of students, alumni, staff and members of the community, the New School Choir is not only a diverse group of voices, but also people. Kate Sheeran, the assistant dean of preparatory and extension divisions at Mannes, created the extension of the choir to build a stronger sense of community between The New School and neighborhood residents.
“We have about half New School members, and half other community members,” Sheeran said. “This is the first year we have a New School Choir. It is part of a lot of new initiatives by Mannes to become a greater part of the community.”
For members of the choir, coming to rehearsal every Tuesday evening is something to look forward to.
“I belonged to a more formal choir, but I love being here because it has this youthfulness and joy,” retiree Natasha Roemer said. “The conductors are filled with joy and enthusiasm and come for the love of singing.”
For Lang freshman Julia Ricklefs, it’s the perfect opportunity to continue to be a part of a choir.
“I’ve been singing all my life, so this is a great opportunity to keep singing in a fun and relaxed atmosphere,” she said.
Choir leaders Eric Dudley and Caroline Shaw agreed to lead the group before their own success came. Shaw won the 2012 Pulitzer in Music for her composition “Partita for 8 Voices.” Dudley and Shaw are also part of the Grammy Award-Winning musical ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, which began in 2009 and currently has eight members. Roomful of Teeth was awarded the Grammy for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance this year.
“We started exploring and singing and doing as many concerts as we could, and then everything exploded,” Dudley said about their sudden success.
According to Dudley, the choir has influenced their own group work. Roomful of Teeth explores a variety of world singing techniques and styles and has grown from the direction and style of The New School Choir, which relies on communal singing and creating a relationship with the audience during its performances.
“Caroline and I are trying to explore the same thing here,” Dudley said. “The New School is a forum of communal singing.”
The Choir sings a variety of musical genres, including but not limited to early American shape note singing, African American spirituals, western classical, traditional, as well as Bulgarian, Icelandic, and Russian folk music.
“I love the range Caroline and Eric explore,” Sheeran said. “Their energy and openness is what I look forward to.”
The choir had its first concert of the semester on March 20 at the Tishman Auditorium on 12th Street. Its next performance will be in Union Square Park on a yet to be announced date.
For more information or to become a part of The New School Choir, email chorus@newschool.edu.
Jessica is currently a Journalism + Design Major minoring in Literature. A Chicago native, she enjoys arguing with people who think New York style pizza is better than Chicago deep dish, reading anything she can get her hands on, and exploring New York Cities' bakeries.
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