Queens County Community Choir seeking singers

In a couple of weeks, the

Queens County Community Choir will resume, and director Gregory Watters is hoping some new voices join the group.

Watters took over as director last autumn. Since then, a few things have changed, and he also has a lot of plans for the choir. One of the changes is that the tenor and bass voices have joined forces to become one – meaning the choir is now soprano, alto and bass.

“The membership was not that strong amongst the men, and it was a wonderful opportunity to truly start developing a better sound, more confidence, and that’s been a real success,” said Watters.

At this year’s Christmas concert, Watters says he’s hoping to get some young voices involved. He’s also hoping to hold a second performance around that time, which would be a fundraiser.

“And as far as repetition for the audience – no. So what they’re going to hear at Kiwanis will not be what they’re going to hear in our other performance, which means they’ve really got to get out there and see it,” he said.

Andre Haines will be continuing his role as the choir’s accompanist. Haines composed a couple of the pieces the choir performed last Christmas. He also composed a piece of music for the spring program, and Watters says that tradition will continue.

The choir, which practices weekly on Tuesday nights, has approximately 40 members. Watters says he’d love to see some more young people – high school students and young adults – join the group. He would like to see members with different backgrounds and experiences.

“You don’t have to read music, you don’t have to be an experienced singer,” said Watters. “You can just come in, have that trust, and because we work as a community, everyone’s working to help everybody else out.”

A typical rehearsal starts promptly at 6:30 p.m. From there, the choir does warmups.

Following warmup, the choir moves into its repertoire. At times, the rehearsal will involve sectionals. There is a 15-minute break to allow for some social time. Everything wraps up at 8:30 p.m.

Watters says the rehearsals are very well planned, and the choir moves quickly through its material.

As to why people should consider trying the choir, Watters says it’s fun, challenging, it provides people the opportunity to learn new things, people become more involved in their community, and there’s a wonderful sense of camaraderie and responsibility. “But mostly it’s fun.”

The first rehearsal of the season is set to take place Sept. 17, which will also be registration night.

Anyone interested in joining the choir can message the Facebook page or email queensccchoir@gmail.com.