When you are singing, you always hope for great acoustics. Sometimes, it’s easier to find them in strange places. One choir group realized that an empty silo had the ability to offer some amazing sounds.
Members of the Bethel College Concert Choir couldn’t help but get excited when they had the chance to sing in the silo.
For their silo performance, the choir chose to sing “Down to the River to Pray.” It’s a popular and classic church hymn that is sung in almost every church in the country.
It has also been covered by many recording artists.
If you aren’t familiar with the lyrics, they are:
“As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
(And who shall wear) the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way!
O sisters let’s go down,
Let’s go down, come on down,
O sisters let’s go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
(And who shall wear) the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way!”
“O brothers let’s go down,
Let’s go down, come on down,
Come on brothers let’s go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
(And who shall wear) the starry crown
Good Lord, show me
O sinners let’s go down,
Let’s go down, come on down,
O sinners let’s go down,
Down in the river to pray.
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good old way
(And who shall wear) the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way!”
The choir has performed at many different venues but never a silo.
The singers wanted to give it a try, and farmer Derek Klingenberg was happy to let them use his silo for the performance. He knows how the silo can echo, and even he felt that it would be a great place to perform such a beautiful song.
When the choir starts singing, it’s amazing.
Every sound is amplified and carried, and that makes the song even more special. It’s a touching song on its own, but when it’s sung inside the silo by these amazing singers, it’s incredible.
The college choir has a long history.
According to the website:
“The Bethel College Concert Choir has been the core of the music department since Walter Hohmann founded the ensemble in 1932 as the Bethel College A Cappella Choir. Though oratorio choruses, glee clubs, and other music organizations had been active since the 1890s, Hohmann’s A Cappella Choir was distinct from its predecessors. The choir traveled out-of-state to perform and generally sang unaccompanied sacred repertoire from memory. The choir’s first extended concert tour was a six-week tour through the western United States and Canada in the summer of 1935.
“Renamed the Mennonite Singers in the 1950s, the choir toured Europe for the first time in the summer of 1952 and again in 1955 and 1958, traveling by boat each time. During this decade, recordings of the Mennonite Singers were broadcast on a weekly radio program out of Wichita.
“Each spring, the Concert Choir joins with all collegiate singers, members of the Newton Community Chorus and the Newton Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra in the performance of choral masterworks.”
The college performs around the world and has performed many popular works.
Some of them include “Carmina Burana,” “Elijah,” “Harmoniemesse,” “Dona Nobis Pacem,” “Symphony of Psalms,” “Gloria,” Brahms’ “German Requiem,” “Magnificat,” and Verdi’s “Requiem.” It’s no secret that the choir is the pride of the college. The group has many more performances planned in the future, too.
According to Bethel College:
“The Bethel College Concert Choir has been lauded for its musical excellence. In 2010, the choir received an Emmy for the choral soundtrack of the movie documentary ‘Through the Desert Goes Our Journey.’ Locally, the choir has been featured in performances at the Kansas Music Educators annual convention and with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. The choir’s most recent collaboration with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra was a May 2013 performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C with WSO music director and Bethel College alumnus Daniel Hege. During annual tours, the choir has accepted invitations to sing in the Berliner Dom, Stockholm Cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, Cincinnati, the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, and New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine.”
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