By Nick Knopik, contributing writer and former assistant director of leadership and service
六天. 5个州. 八个表演. And for the fifty students on the Doane Choir tour, innumerable memories.
“We were singing at a church in Oklahoma City, and I was crying,” said 杰森·麦金托什, a senior psychology major from Maywood, Nebraska. “I don’t know if it was the song or the feeling so welcomed by this community, but I know a lot of other people felt the same way.”
McIntosh has participated in three 唱诗班 tours that have introduced him to cities many thousands of times larger than his hometown.
为 茱莉亚拉米雷斯, a senior music education and vocal performance double major, a hallmark of the tour is the lifelong friendships she’s made during late-night conversations in her hotel room.
“It was kind of like having a sleepover with my best friends,拉米雷斯说, remembering looking around the hotel room and realizing how much she admired everyone there with her.
The 唱诗班 tour also puts Doane on the radar for prospective students during stops at Nebraska high schools. Like Ramirez, who saw Doane’s 唱诗班 while a student at Bellevue West. After the performance, she realized she could see herself as a Doane student one day.
“I was so excited to go to a school where people were so good at performing,拉米雷斯说.
她也注意到了这条路 Dr. 库尔特Runestad, professor of music at Doane, directed the 唱诗班. 作为一名有抱负的音乐教师, she knew that going to Doane meant an opportunity to learn from a highly respected and successful music educator.
Runestad的影响
Runestad began directing the Doane Choir in 2004, and has twice received the “Outstanding Teacher of the Year” award from Doane’s Student Congress. He helps students understand that the 唱诗班 tour is about more than performing a few concerts around the country, 麦金托什说.
“He told us that this music that we’re performing and singing is moving people to tears,麦金托什说. “It has given them a reason to get back into music or to try again with the failed relationship with a friend.”
Students often quote Runestad when discussing their 唱诗班 experience.
“我在偷拿医生的钱. 这是R的措辞。 Zekiel Krejci-Hyde, a senior mathematics and data analytics major. “(合唱), you get to forget about your other responsibilities and focus on making beautiful music with a diverse group of people.”
“His catchphrase to us is ‘your best is always enough,’拉米雷斯说. Tears welled in her eyes as she described how Dr. Runestad leads the 唱诗班 with love and positivity. “He is such a great person, and he does beautiful things for us.”
旅游传统
Runestad designed the tour to build connections between the 唱诗班 students and the communities they visit. 以唱诗班的巡演传统为例, like a senior making a speech before each performance or the entire 唱诗班 singing a song called “Bravo” to whoever cooks their dinner.
Audiences witness the connections between students during performances, too. 而不是 of holding music, students in Doane Choir hold each other’s hands while they sing.
然后是寄宿家庭, arranged by Runestad in place of hotel stays in smaller communities. 在住宿期间, residents open their doors to the Doane students, 喂它们晚餐, giving them a place to sleep and driving them back to the bus the next morning.
首页stays impact students long past the time they pack their bags, like an experience Krejci-Hyde had on the 2023 tour. An unexpected snowstorm forced the 唱诗班 to spend an extra day in Bridgeport, Nebraska. 这可能会使这次旅行脱轨. 而不是, Krejci-Hyde’s homestay “mom” dug out all of the winter weather gear in her home and piled him and five other Doane 唱诗班 students into her car. She gave them all a tour of Bridgeport and then took them sledding.
“当我们要离开的时候, she insisted on giving Drew Pennington [’23] the 12-string guitar they had since he had been admiring it,Krejci-Hyde说.
McIntosh also has a homestay memory that stuck with him. 他和澳门威尼斯人网址合唱团的高年级同学 洛根恰, stayed with a retired couple in a rural Kansas town.
“I remember sitting down in the living room and talking to them for almost four hours,麦金托什说.
在早晨, 当那对夫妇把他们送到公共汽车上的时候, the elderly man handed McIntosh his business card. He told McIntosh if he ever got stuck within one hundred miles of his address to give him a call and he would pick him up.
After seeing their concert and speaking with the two students who stayed in his home, 老人给Runestad发了一封电子邮件. 在信中，他感谢了茹内斯塔德和澳门威尼斯人网址合唱团. “He said that he felt like there was still hope in the world,麦金托什说.
Each tour ends with a concert back on Doane’s campus. 但是这次旅行的效果——希望, 的关系, the community — continues after the final note has been sung.
“Music can influence people in so many different ways,麦金托什说. “我想这就是人们唱歌的原因.”
