By Jay Ermis
Managing Editor
HUNTSVILLE — For the first time, two Huntsville choirs will perform in concert.
The Sam Houston State University Concert Choir will combine with the Huntsville High School Chamber Choir for a concert at 7:30 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church.
The 49-member SHSU choir is under the direction of Elisa West and the 38-member HHS choir is under the direction of Clay West.
“When I was hired by HISD to teach at the high school, one of the things that Dr. (Richard) Montgomery expressed to me was the desire to build a relationship with Sam Houston State University because it’s here in town and there has been very little cooperation back and forth between the university and the high school in a long time,” Clay West said prior to the HHS choir’s rehearsal.
“So he just wanted go at that and establish that,” West said. “Because I had been part of the School of Music at Sam Houston, it was an easy way for me to bridge that gap.
“As we began to talk about options of how to bridge that gap, the idea came up of doing a student joint concert. What better way to do that then to have a joint concert where we could both sing, support the School of Music at Sam Houston and support the high school.”
West said that as far as he knows the concert will be the first-ever joint concert of the choirs between the university and the high school.
“It’s kind of a groundbreaking experience for us,” West said.
West said the HHS choir will perform music it will be singing at the UIL contest in April, including songs by Brian Tate, Felix Mendelssohn and Edwin Ferguson.
“It’s some good music,” he said. “I think a very eclectic mix. They are doing a wide variety of music, much more difficult obviously, because they are college.
“I am really excited about it. They’re so different because one group is collegiate singers. They’re music majors. They’re all your best high school students who went on to be college music majors.”
“So it’s going to be two different echelon of choirs — one collegiate, one high school,” West said. “We know that going into it, but we’re so excited because we get to rub shoulders with some really good musicians and just get some exposure for what is happening at the high school and also what is happening at the university, so it kind of benefits both of us.”
West was a student at SHSU while his wife, Elisa, taught there.
“I studied conducting there and so my mentor, Dr. (Allen) Hightower, is head of the choral program at Sam Houston and a good friend of mine, also,” West said. “We have that relationship, that friendship we can do things like this together.
“It doesn’t hurt that my wife is the conductor of the other choir either.”
Elisa West, SHSU assistant choral director and visiting professor, said “we are very excited about the combined choirs just because it is the first time that we’ve done something together and, of course, it’s extra special because Clay and I are married. That’s fun, too.
“It’s wonderful for a couple of reasons. It’s great for the high school to get to be with the college choir and hear the level of music the college choir can make, but it’s also great for my college students to see the high school choir and where they’re coming from.”
West said the SHSU choir will sing a mix of songs from different classical periods, including Mendelssohn, Johann Sebastian Bach, William Walton, Eric Whitacre and Alice Parker.
