lawn chair choral concert

Lawn chair audience watches the perfomance

story by Everett Moran

Cougar Days at the University of Sioux Falls finished the week off strong by ending with a lawn chair performance of a lifetime. All USF’s choirs joined together and performed an indelible concert at the campus quad. Face masks were worn by both the performers and the audience, but this did not stop their angelic voices from reverberating across campus.

Paris Whalen, a freshman at USF is experiencing her first year in the concert chorale-COVID-19 style. Whalen said, “the purpose of the choir is to sing with others, not be a soloist. So with corona, that is something we have to adjust to because we are always six apart from one another. That’s why singing with a mask on has been a big adjustment. Diction is so important, we need to be able to hear each other and understand what everyone is saying.” By adding multiple microphones and speakers around the choir, it was nearly impossible for Sunday’s audience to tell the difference the masks cause. Whalen also said, “yes, there have been struggles with navigating COVID-19 but overall there is just this feeling of gratitude for being able to practice and perform with one another through all of this.”

USF’s choir director Dr. DeHoogh-Kliewer said, “the goal of this concert was to celebrate community, honor our alumni, and create a worship filled experience for all our listeners.” Dr. DK also gave credit to USF’s administration by saying, “We are thriving due in part to the strict rules our administration established, those rules have resulted in our success.” The turnout for this concert was larger than most people expected. Dr. DK said, “This was a humbling turnout, there were a lot of people here today who do not have a connection with any student, they are here just because they sang here in college, whether that was 10 years ago or 50 years ago. I saw a whole row of women from First Baptist who sang back here in the 50s and 60s and to see that type of support and community outreach makes me feel so fortunate to be a part of this choir group. Linda Klock Higgason, a USF alumni of 1968 said, “I think this concert is great, I did not expect this many people to come. When Dr. DK announced his concert at First Baptist Church, three weeks ago, I immediately marked it down on my calendar. Since the sun was shining today I invited my sister to come out with me.” Higgason also said, “I don’t know any students here anymore but from what I can see USF is handling Corona very well and using precautions. ”

Sophomore Megan Sunvold poses for the camera before the concert

Through and through, the Lawn Chair Choral Concert was a massive success and became the entertainment everyone needed.

photos courtesy of Greta Smith Collegiate Choir members singing one of their pieces