Creating a community choir opportunity for everyone
BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
VALLEY — A choir for the community, Valley resident Diane LaRue is partnering with Valley Parks and Recreation to bring an Adult Community Choir to Chambers County.
LaRue said she found her love for singing later in life and is passionate about helping others find their voice as well.
“I didn’t get into singing until I was 72 years old, and I thought, ‘I’ll take a couple of voice lessons, and I’ll be good to go’ — this was where I lived in the past — and I started voice lessons, and I joined the two community choirs that were non-audition,” she said. “I knew nothing about music; I didn’t know there were parts, and I didn’t know there was harmony. I knew nothing, and I fell in love with it.”
Having found joy in participating in community choirs, LaRue said she wants to inspire others in the community to have the courage to sing — as she did years ago.
“I just want to sing in a choir, and to me there’s something magically glorious about singing with a group of people with the goal of bringing joy, or maybe it’s sadness to others [through music],” she said. “And prior to my age of 72, I firmly believed and said, ‘I cannot sing, you don’t want to hear me sing.’ And it took courage to go to a voice instructor, and every time I went — it took courage.”
A space for all with choral interest, LaRue said the Adult Community Choir is accepting of all levels of experience, and she encourages those who are interested but lack confidence in their singing abilities to join.
“There are no auditions, it’s for people of all abilities, and I intend to use the Tuesday interest group to see what the experience level is,” she said. “Particularly, I would like to welcome people who think they cannot sing, because that’s incorrect. We are hardwired to sing, and it’s very human — it distinguishes us from all the other animals, and it [gives us] a sense of connection, not only with the people in the room, but hopefully with the audience.
“A community choir is inclusive not only of singing ability, but of the repertoire that you sing,” she said. “It will be a variety of genres of music, but I kind of would like to be able to sing music that doesn’t come from my cultural tradition.”
LaRue held an interest meeting on Feb. 3, but she said she invites those who were unable to attend to email her at laruedi@gmail.com.
