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2022 ACDA Southwestern Region Conference

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Performing ChoirsChoirs
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Voces Spiritus Willard High School
Community Youth Girls Choir Chamber Choir

“Music is the gateway to the soul.” What a profound
visual: a gateway; a route that aligns the body to reach
the most vulnerable place a person has: their soul. If mu-
Voce Spiritus is a community youth choir for girls in sic is the gateway, we are the doorkeepers—the ones who
7th-12th grades, open to singers throughout the Oklaho- hand over our keys; the humbled beholders stepping
ma City area. The group is the premier choir under the aside for what relentlessly unites humanity: music. Noth-
branch of the organization “Music Strengthens.” Voce ing realizes this more than being in Chamber Choir. Ev-
Spiritus provides a positive singing environment where ery day, a common flame is sparked in our souls and

young ladies are challenged musically, given unique per- ignited by our conductor. Every day, we empathize with
formance opportunities, encouraged to become respon- the text of the composer. Every day, music makes us one.
sible leaders of character and integrity, develop strong Adora Snead, Class of 2020.
friendships, and become life-long musicians and music
advocates. The choir curriculum utilizes a Kodàly-based Mark Lawley’s experience as a conductor is
approach to singing and performs mostly a cappella mu- best described by Marjorie Holmes’s words:
sic. “We are given glimpses of the divine. For
a little while our own world changes, too;
Darla Eshelman recently retired from 23 its harsh edges soften, melt into something
years of university teaching, where she was lovely…the grim gives way to something that shines.
vocal music education coordinator and su- We are soothed or enlivened, delighted or profoundly
pervisor for student teachers. Prior to that, moved. We forget, we forgive, we want to dance and
she taught K-12 vocal music for 15 years in laugh and love and cry. Nobody can tell me this isn’t
Arizona and Oklahoma. She is artistic director of Voce your doing, God. You speak to us, calling to us, using
Spiritus, a published choral composer, and has served as music to stir us, comfort us, uplift us. And giving us a
OKCDA president, OAKE Southern Division president, foretaste of even more beautiful music to come.”
and OKMEA Higher Education Representative. She
currently teaches PK-8 music and choir for the Acad-
emy of Classical Christian Studies in Oklahoma City.

98 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2022 Volume 62 Number 5