By Joey McWilliams
DURANT – Some of the Durant High School choirs were treated to a special music performance on Thursday.
The University Singers from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah stopped by DHS as a part of a six-day tour that features a performance in a world-renowned concert hall in Dallas. The group performed selected numbers for some of the DHS choir classes, which are under the direction of Deborah Clements.
Dr. Jeff Wall, Chair of the Department of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Northeastern State, said he was glad to get to talk a little with the students about NSU and also for the group to get to warm up before the major performance in Dallas.
Dr. Jeff Wall (standing), Chair of the Department of Music at NSU. Photo by Jodi McWilliams
“We were invited to come and sing before the North Texas Children’s Chorus at the Meyerson Symphony Center and so we decided to arrange a tour around the event,” Wall said.
Durant High School was the first of five high schools the group will visit during its trip, with four more in the Dallas area, including Booker T. Washington Fine Arts Academy and Woodrow Wilson High School.
Wall said he tries to get his group out to visit schools like this from time to time as a recruitment tool for the university.
“We try to do short run-outs,” Wall said. “But if we get an opportunity to go on a longer trip like this then we try to stop in at as many high schools as we can along the way.”
The major performance for the University Singers will take place on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. as the prelude choir for the North Texas Children’s Chorus. The group will also have a full performance of its own the following evening on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Allen, Texas.
