In the second semester of my Sophomore year, I began singing with the Longwood University “University Choir,” under the direction of Dr. Pamela McDermott. While I have been involved in music since early childhood, this was my first time singing in a full SATB choir. I was not new to singing, though, and quickly found myself taking a leadership role in my section. From the beginning of the first few weeks, I found myself singing out and leading the other members of my section; it was very nice being able to comfortably adapt to a new musical setting.

There were various challenges the choir had to overcome as a whole, though. University Choir is the introductory choir at Longwood, and some of the students had never sung in their lives before, let alone read music. There was a steep learning curve for many members of the choir, and I often found myself lending a hand to my neighbors, whether it was helping them write in solfege or teaching them a rhythm, there was always work to be done. Dr. McDermott also pushed the choir very hard and introduced pieces in Latin and in German. This was challenging for many students, but not an unwelcome one. Dr. McDermott taught the choir how to read music, sing, and act on stage; the end product was two excellent virtual concerts.

There was another component to the course that Dr. McDermott pushed heavily, and that was diversity. Dr. McDermott believes that music is a medium to deliver messages, and as such, the pieces in our programs reflected that. In the first concert cycle, the theme was peace. We performed pieces such as Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) and Say Her Name, both of which advocated for peace and justice. We spent a lot of class time researching the background of these pieces; Say Her Name was especially eye-opening as it is a song that focuses on racial injustice and brings light to the names of African Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of senseless racial injustice. The second concert cycle was structured similarly and featured music from many different cultures. Learning about all these cultures was not an outcome I expected from this course, but it was a welcome one.