'They are my family': Springfield Street Choir resumes rehearsals in MSU parking garage (2024)

Jackie Rehwald|Springfield News-Leader

After a six-month hiatus due to the pandemic, the Springfield Street Choir reunited Monday evening on the fourth floor of a parking garage on the Missouri State University campus.

Rehearsal kicked off with one of the group's favorites: "Stand By Me."

The Springfield Street Choir is comprised of homeless and formerly homeless people. The choir is a partnership of the Springfield Chamber Chorus, The Connecting Grounds, and Gathering Friends.

"I couldn't keep my eyes dry," choir member Paul Sartin saidlater.

Prior to the pandemic, the choir practiced weekly at the Connecting Grounds' former location on Commercial Street. The choir was invited to perform at Big Momma's,the Springfield Art Museum and at the Mystery Hour, which is filmed in front of a live audience in the Gillioz Theater.

Sartin said it's been hard not being able to attend rehearsals because they could not gather indoors.

"It was a safe haven— somewhere we could come and be greater than ourselves," he said. "It gave us a sense of community and brought us together."

"When I don't seethem and I don't know how they are doing because of the pandemic, there's a lot of worry and anxiety," Sartin said.

Selena Conley was among the first to arrive Monday. She caught a ride withJohn Curtis, whom she referred to as her "brother."

"I have family out here," she said, smiling at Curtis.

More: Springfield's Conservatory of the Ozarks to close its doors

Asked what she missed most about the choir practices, Conley said "hanging out with family."

"It was amazing," the19-year-old said of the choir. "I had the best experiences."

Sitting a few feet away, Curtis said he was excited to be part of the choir's first practice in the parking garage.

Curtis said hislove for singing in a choir goes back to his childhood.His mother was a choir director and played piano in church.She taught him to direct the choir when he was about 5.

"I grew up in church," Curtis said. "I like to sing."

Curtis said his mom never had professional piano lessons and could play by ear.

"She prayed one day, 'Lord, I want to play piano, but I want to do it only for you,'" Curtis recalled.

Founding director Katie Kring came up with the parking garage idea a few months ago. MSU agreed to allow the choir to rehearse on the fourth floor every Monday afternoon.

A handful of MSU Choral Studies students have agreed to be long-term volunteers with the choir. They joined in the singing Monday. As attendance grows in the coming weeks, the students will assist choir members in navigating the large parking garage and makesure everyone leaves the property when practice concludes.

"It's a big place to contend with, so we wanted to make sure we are able to adequately maintain control of the space," Kring said. "But then also today, it was wonderful to have them sing with us. They are really excited to be part of the lives of our singers. It's a wonderful partnership and we are so grateful."

The mostly-empty level of theparking garage provides wonderful acoustics as well as fresh air and ventilation, Kring said.

"You want some place that has as much ventilation as outside, but sounds as good as inside," Kring said. "If you try to sing outside, you put people at appropriate distances apart and you can't hear each other."

"This is like a singer's dream," she said."It sounds amazing."

Kring alsoserves on the board of the Springfield Chamber Chorus. She got the idea to form a street choir after seeing the Dallas Street Choir perform at a conference a few years ago.

In addition to giving the choir opportunities to experience the benefits of choral singing, Kring said in an earlier interview she hopes the choir will help change the community's perception of the homeless.

More: Springfield Street Choir gives homeless community reason to sing

As the choir settled in and took their places, Kring explained the two rules:

"If you are good, you sing. If you are bad, you sing," she told the choir. "Rule two, you must wear a mask. When you sing you put particles in the air."

Associate director Kenny Kabak offered one moreinstruction: "Sing what's on your heart."

The choir sang several songs Monday including Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors," Dolly Parton's "Travlin' Thru," and Mahalia Jackson's "Great Gettin' Up Morning"— to name a few.

Kring and Kabakchoose songs that are uplifting or speak to the experiences of being poor, marginalized and alienated. They tryto steer clear ofreligious songs (except for spirituals) and songs about romantic love, two areas Kring said are often "emotionally fraught for our friends."

"Basically I'm looking for music that is good, fun to sing, and that I think our singers will connect with on some level," Kring said.

Following Monday's rehearsal, Kring called it "heartwarming to the extreme."

"It's so nice to see the people that we love so much, that we've missed," she said,"to actually get to sing with them, which is the most wonderful and joyful and equalizing thing in the world."

As it gets colder, Kring said they want to be able to give HotHands to choir members.

Choir members are paid $2 or are given bus passes for their participation.Dinner is also provided.

Connecting Grounds Pastor Christie Love saidon average about 100 people would attend before the pandemic shut everything down.

Though only nine choir members showed up Monday, organizers anticipate attendance will grow as word spreads.

"This is a population whose routines provide a sense of safety and predictability for them," Love said. "Any change in those routines, even positive ones, often take a few weeks to catch on. We will be addressing some of the barriers we identified this first week to make it easier for people to adapt to the change in schedule and connect in the future."

Tiffany King joined the choir when it first started last October. At the time, King was homeless. She has since moved into her own place, thanks to help from Safe to Sleep and Harmony House.

Even so, King said there's no way she'd miss out on the choir's first practice in the parking garage.

"They are my family," King said, motioning to the choir. "I'm not giving up on them."

"It's amazing to have all of us together singing," she added. "I love singing. It brings joy and hope."

'Songs From the Street'

A documentary about the Springfield Street Choir was recently released."Songs From the Street" was produced by media students from Missouri State University and the professional staff of Carbon Trace Productions.

More: Springfield Street Choir walks red carpet at screening of documentary

The documentary crew began filming last fall when the choir wasformed and wrapped up this spring, documenting the choir's suspension due to the pandemic.

There are several outdoor screenings of the documentary coming up at various locations around Springfield. Find a schedule on the Springfield Street Choir's Facebook page (click on events).

To learn more about or support the Springfield Street Choir, visitspringfieldstreetchoir.org.

'They are my family': Springfield Street Choir resumes rehearsals in MSU parking garage (2024)
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