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Photos by Dr. Wesley Kluck.
It is Monday night the week after Thanksgiving, and Ouachita Concert Choir students file into Jones Performing Art Center. Students mingle amongst themselves as Dr. Scott Holsclaw, dean of the school of fine arts, and Dr. Gary Gerber, director of choral activities, prepare for the evening rehearsal. As everyone gathers on the stage, we take in our surroundings. It’s a show everyone looks forward to, and we want to make the best out of it.
We rehearse nightly, drilling every song and movement until we are all comfortable with it. Monday night is the basics: where we stand, how we enter and exit the stage and getting a feel for the flow of the show. Tuesday, we stick to the first half making sure the choreography looks clean and uniform across the choir. Wednesday we run the show… And then run it again. By the time Thursday night rolls around, we are dragging our feet as we hit the stage.
And then Friday night arrives — opening night of Festival of Christmas. A nervous energy passes through the choir as we sit in Verser Theater waiting to take the stage. We gather and briefly warm up before Gerber sits us down to share his Festival of Christmas poem, a tradition he has been carrying for years now. We reflect on his words, and for a moment, let all the stress of the past week melt away. When he finishes, we line up to head into JPAC.
We head backstage and line up in the wings waiting for the curtain to rise. Everyone is ecstatic. It’s a madhouse behind the curtain as we anxiously wait for the starting overture to end. As the final notes of the piece find resolution, we calm ourselves. As the curtain rises, we run across the stage to our places. A sea of faces greets us as we start our opening number.
The rest of the performance passes in a flash. The Ouachita Sounds bring out the Santa Claus and hot chocolate in style and splendor, while the Movers and Shakers waltz as the choir sways in time. The second half of the show provides a more worshipful setting- something that some of the audiences mainly come to see. As we finish our last number, O Holy Night, we are met with the grand applause of the audience. The roar washes over the choir, and we look down to see Gerber as proud as ever. We know however that the show is more than just for our audiences’ appreciation. If anything the performance is for us. After all the hard work and long rehearsals, we all feel the sense of fulfillment from our performance, and a satisfaction from a night well done. In the end, it was all worth it.
