The Hope College Chapel Choir, College Chorus, and SPERA choirs will present the program “Voices of Hope” during an outdoor concert on Friday, Sept. 30, at 5 p.m. in the Pine Grove in the central campus.
Because the outdoor location has no seating, audience members are encouraged to bring a chair, blanket and sweater to enjoy the evening of song. In the event of rain, the concert will take place in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
A wide variety of music will be performed, from the South African song of freedom titled “Tshotsholoza,” to the Moravian Czech Mountain song, “Hoj, Hura hoj!” The program will also feature compositions by celebrated American composers such as Andrea Ramsey, Abbie Betinis, Craig Hella Johnson, and Shawn Kirchner.
The Chapel Choir is an advanced ensemble of 37 members. The ensemble seeks to study advanced choral repertoire, and is open to all students by audition. The College Chorus is a 42-member ensemble that collaborates with Chapel Choir in Vespers, and is open to members of the Hope College faculty and staff, as well as the Holland community. SPERA is a 32-member ensemble for treble voice created in 2020, and is open to all soprano and alto students by audition.
The choirs are conducted by faculty member Eric D. Reyes, who is an assistant professor of music instruction and director of choral activities at Hope. Born and raised in Southern California, Mexican-American conductor, pianist and vocalist Reyes seeks to make music that communicates beauty, inspires hope and brings about unity amongst people.
Most recently, Reyes served as the director of “¡Canto! A Latinx Vocal Intensive,” a program at Hope that seeks to equip high school Latinx vocalists with resources to study and perform Latinx vocal music. This project was funded through the Mellon-Foundation, and was done in collaboration Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP), Dr. Sarah VandenBrink and Professor Christina Krause.
Reyes has served a variety of ensembles, including the Southern California Children’s Chorus, Moody Chorale, University of Michigan Orpheus Singers, University of Michigan Arts Chorale and the Community Chorus of Detroit. Reyes was one of eight rising conductors selected from throughout the country to participate in a conducting masterclass led by Ann Howard Jones and Jerry McCoy at the 2017 American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Minneapolis. At the University of Michigan, he was a recipient of the Brehm Endowed Fellowship in Choral Conducting. Reyes received his bachelor’s in music from the Moody Bible Institute and his master’s in music from the University of Michigan.
Audience members who need assistance to enjoy any event at Hope fully are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar.
The Pine Grove is in the central campus of Hope College directly behind Graves Hall, which is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets. Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., at the corner of College Avenue and 12th Street.