The Baker University chamber and concert choirs and the Baldwin City community choir will look to end the school year on the right note with their two remaining concerts.
The community and chamber choirs will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Baldwin First United Methodist Church. Each group will do individual numbers, but the two choirs will combine around four pieces to finish out the night.
“What the audience should look forward to is great music,” Director of Choral Activities Matthew Potterton said. “There is a wide variety of music and hopefully a piece or two that everyone will enjoy.”
The community choir has increased its workload since its last performance. Potterton took feedback from last semester and gave the community choir a chance to advance even more.
“They took on a bigger role, doubling the music they have done in the past, and I am very proud of all they music they have learned,” Potterton said. “There is such a variety of music that with both choirs combined, it will all come together nicely to be a great concert.”
The final concert for each choir will also be the last for Potterton, as he is leaving Baker for a position at East Tennessee State University.
“Without Dr. Potterton and the choral program he revived, there would have been no growth in the choir program here,” senior Paul Eltschinger said. “The last few concerts we have will be remembered forever.”
The second concert will be at 7:30 p.m. May 2 in Rice Auditorium and will also feature two special guest performances.
One guest is alumnus Kevin Mahogany, a jazz vocalist and instrumentalist. The other performance will be from the East Hill Singers, a group of male singers from the Lansing Correctional Facility. The group will perform for 10 to 15 minutes.
“Featuring the prison choir, to me, was a great outreach, a great community service to have this choir and to show the bond the power of art has in bringing people together from all different backgrounds,” Potterton said. “I had the opportunity to watch them perform and they are amazing, singing with their hearts and soul. The program that funds this choir is a non-profit one called ‘Arts in Prison.’ It is a great program and by giving the choir a chance to sing for us and alongside us, (the show) will be spectacular.”
Although this will be Potterton’s last concert at Baker, he believes this concert and the April 16 concert will be absolutely outstanding.
“I’ll miss Potterton not only because he was a great teacher, but he was a great person who you could talk to about anything and just hang out with,” sophomore Jillian Miller said. “He clicked with us; he’s really going to be missed.”
