Passage
Every Tuesday evening the hall above the fire station fills with voices. The community choir meets there, open to anyone who wants to sing. The choir’s director, a music teacher who plays three instruments, waves the singers into their seats. The soloist1, who the director chose sings the opening line.
Rehearsal follows a familiar order. Along the piano bench 2 lie a single stack of song sheets. The director shares the solos between Maria and 3 I. The 4 singers folders hold months of music. 5
Singing well takes practice. Each week the group warms up, learns a new line, and 6 reviewing the old ones. A strong choir is capable 7 to blend many voices into one. The blend is what the group works toward.
No one is turned away. Beginners stand beside seasoned 8 singers, the mix is part of the point. Some members read music9 and others learn every part by ear. The choir blends every part into 10 their single, shared sound.
The singers learned to match their vowels sound by sound. 11 Therefore, they learned to breathe together, rising and falling as one. Many 12 have never sung in a group before they joined. By spring the choir could fill the hall with a warm, steady sound.
At the spring concert the hall was packed with friends and neighbors. The voices 13 went up together, and for a few minutes the room seemed to hum. 14 What began as a scattering of nervous singers had become one voice the whole block could hear. 15
