By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
As the Fort Hays State University choir, the Fort Hays Singers prepare to present a selection of era and patriotic music in Hawaii, the combined choirs will showcase some of the program, along with much more at their Fall Concert on Friday.
The concert is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.
Three choirs, the Fort Hays Singers, the Concert Choir and the Fort Hays Singers will all perform during the event.
"We're going to be featuring the Fort Hays Singers trip to Hawaii," said director of choral activities Terry Crull. "So we'll be doing our music that we are preparing to take with us to Hawaii for the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attacks in December."
Along with the music, a sunflower wreath that displays the names of area veterans that will be presented during the trip will be displayed.
"We've got Vietnam vets, Korean vets, Afghan (veterans), Desert Storm plus the World Wars," Crull said. "So that's a great way to honor the veterans and that wreath will be set very soon over to Hawaii."
The wreath is set to be permanently displayed once presented in Hawaii.
The trip and the concert have been in the works since last year.
"It was September 2020 that they contacted me and said, 'Do you want to come and represent Kansas?' We said 'Yes, indeed.' So we're excited," Crull said. "In fact, we've got a good relationship with Music Celebrations International who's sponsoring the concert, and we get to kick it off with the Star-Spangled Banner and our concert. So we're the very first one on the program. And, and we're honored to do the national anthem as part of that program.
"We've also got pieces that are from that era 1941. All the Things You Are, Tuxedo Junction from Bye Bye Birdie, My Funny Valentine, so pieces that were popular with the boys and the women who served in Pearl Harbor in '39, '40 and '41. I don't know if any of our audience will remember them but they should be familiar because they're popular tunes that have stood the test of time, but they were popular on those days is what you would have been listening to on your radio if you were awake on Sunday morning when the Japanese attacked."
It's not rock 'n roll by any means, he said as love songs particularly from Broadway shows were popular in that era.
"We've got a set of Oh Children of the Heavenly Father a nice arrangement of that Swedish folk hymn," Crull said. "And a combination ... we call it Swinging With the Saints. So it's gots Swing Low Sweet Chariot and When the Saints Go Marching In combined again came combined together the gals do one melody the guys do another and those two pieces fit together that's by Kansas composer Mark Hayes."
The Smoky Hill Chorale also plans to perform Night and Day by Cole Porter and Turkey in the Straw.
"Then the Concert Choir has had some older music, some Renaissance madrigals and motets, Singly Enchanted and a piece called Weep Oh Mine Eyes. A very, very stirring song."
The concert is free to attend and open to the public.
"Our concerts at Fort Hays are free, the orchestra, the bands, the choirs are all free," Crull said. "It's our gift to the community for their support of our program and of course particularly for a lot of support both financially and otherwise for the trip to Hawaii."