For the first time ever, Chorale raised funds with an open mic coffee house allowing students to take the stage to sing, play piano, tell a joke and much more.
“We’re taking an outlandish step from the norms that you’ve seen from Chorale in recent years,” stated Colin Kreipe, Senior President of the Chorale. “We’re experimenting with different fundraisers, seeing what gets campus and the general community kind of riled up and helps us be able to fund our upcoming tours.”
Chorale organized the open mic coffeehouse on Thursday, February 19th in the Highlander room to raise money for their upcoming Spring Break concert tour to New Orleans.
“It’s good student leadership practice because they’re planning the events and making sure they go smoothly,” said Tim Pahel, Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music.
Unlike the normal Chorale concert, others took to the mic. “We got a pretty decent amount of people coming to the event tonight, and not just people who are in Chorale or in the music department. We got some people that I’ve never seen before on campus, and I’m really thankful for that,” Kreipe said.
Beyond this event, Chorale is in the middle of preparing to multiple concerts during their tour, “It was a weird start to the semester with so many people being sick with the flu, strep, and all kinds of sickness, along with people having to miss rehearsal for pep band, people missing for IMEC in Peoria, and we’re learning some really hard music,” said Pahel. “As of this week, though, I feel like we are going to be okay and we’re going to sound amazing.”