Soprano, alto, tenor and bass: which one would you be?
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Abigail Sarratt, Contributing Writer
The music program at North Greenville University has inspired students to explore their musical talents for years.
The concert choir is one of the main choirs in the music program. According to the NGU website, the concert choir is one of the performing ensembles in the Cline School of Music in the College of Communication and Fine Arts and is open to students from all academic majors.
The concert choir performed at a few different locations. One of the main locations they performed at was the state convention of the South Carolina American Choral Directors Association and performed with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra.
Gregory Graf, Director of the choir, shared insight into his journey in directing the choir. Graf has been the director for the concert choir for two years. He has taught for 12 years at university level, being a guest conductor, managing a private voice studio and accompanying choirs and instrumentalists.
Graf taught for seven years until he found his passion for conducting music. He has a lot of good memories of directing the choir. However, his favorite memory was when the choir went to the Biltmore house. “We were so well received by everyone,” he said.
Since being the director of the choir, Graf also enjoys listening to all kinds of music. “I’m a pretty electric guy when it comes to music. I will listen to most anything, but I favor jazz and classical music the most.” One of the musical artists he is most inspired by is Jacob Collier.
Josiah Thomas, a freshman Worship studies major, shared some insight into his journey of joining the choir. Thomas says that concert choir is required for his major and for voice classes, but he enjoys carrying out his passion for music. “I love moments that I sit back and listen to the music, and it sounds like a four-part harmony. It’s just absolutely beautiful.”
Thomas also enjoys spending time with his fellow classmates and building community with them. “My classmates are the kind of people who want to do choir and are often the kind of people who carry joy around with them.”
Outside of choir, Thomas enjoys playing Guitar, bass and mandolin. Music has always been a passion of his since he was little.
Ariana Wilson, a senior music major, shared some insight into how her journey has been in the choir. “I have been in the choir since freshman year and every single year it has been an awesome experience.” One of her awesome experiences that she had was when the choir went to the Biltmore house.
Wilson loves being in the choir because there are so many different types of people. “I remember when I first started it was just the variety of people there were so many kids, and it was so much fun because you could engage with someone new all the time.”
In the choir, there are four different vocal ranges that students can be a part of. Students can sing in soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections.
Soprano is the highest vocal range, and it is sung by a female with a high-pitched voice. Alto is the second-highest vocal range and can be sung either by a male or female with a low-pitched voice. Tenor is the second lowest vocal range and is sung by the highest male voice. Bass is the lowest vocal range and is sung by a male.
Wilson was in the alto section when she first joined the choir. “The music was more classical, but it still challenged us, to the point where we weren’t singing the same thing over and over.” Since being in the choir, she has made many memories with her friends.
Wilson’s favorite memory of being in the choir was when they traveled to the Biltmore house. “We had stopped at a really nice restaurant, and it was so much fun when it started raining and we didn’t have enough seats in the van, so people were sitting and laying across each other. We were all laughing and giggling as we were going all the way down there.”
Along with the community that students get from being in the choir, they also get to travel to places. The NGU concert choir travels about once a year. They have traveled to places like the Biltmore house and to nursing homes. The Biltmore house is an extremely popular area for the concert choir to perform.
Since joining choir, Wilson has been introduced to many different types of music, her favorite being jazz. One of the most popular songs that the choir sang when they traveled to Biltmore was “Brazilian Noel”. “It is one of my favorite songs for Christmas and I love listening to it now. The choir really helped me expand on the jazz aspect of the song.”
Sources:
Which voice-part are you? | Royal Free Music Society Choir – North London
Music Ensembles • North Greenville University (ngu.edu)
