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ConScience, Michigan Tech’s chamber music choir, has released three videos from performances at some of the area’s most famous houses of worship.
Latin in the Catholic church, Hebrew at the synagogue, and interspersed were secular choices like “It’s a Wonderful World.” Anderson says the piece made famous by Louis Armstrong felt appropriate for the setting. Director Jared Anderson believes churches are a natural venue choice for a choir.
The Music in Sacred Spaces series was Anderson’s answer to COVID restrictions. He is Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, which has done an annual spring performance at St. Joseph Parish in Lake Linden for several years. The pandemic made that impossible this year, but he was able to distance his choir across the Rozsa Center lobby for rehearsals.
Being spread out inside St. Joseph, Grace United Methodist Church, and Temple Jacob in Hancock is just the start. There are several other locations Anderson wants to experiment in for the future.
Additionally, he says it gave students experience in video production and sound editing, something that has become a more prominent part of the department’s output in the past year. As live crowds return, Anderson is still figuring out what role there is for the technical side of things going forward.
