I’ve sung choral music all my life. Growing up in the Church of Christ, every Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night, I was singing hymns and gospel songs, a cappella. I started as a boy soprano, sang alto for a while, switched to tenor for about a year, and then settled into the bass-baritone I am today.
In high school, I sang in the choruses conducted by my father, James Lee Willett, at Western Christian College. At Harding University in Arkansas, I sang in the Harding A Cappella Chorus, directed by Dr. Kenneth Davis Jr., and also in the rather boringly named Men’s Ensemble. Since then, I’ve sung with the Regina Philharmonic Chorus, the University of Regina Chamber Singers, the Canadian Chamber Choir and, most recently, the Prairie Chamber Choir.
I have a few cassette tapes from choirs gone by, which some time ago I copied to CDs. Now I’ve finally put them online in their entirety. Follow this link for the Harding University A Cappella Chorus’s 1982 concert in Augsburg, West Germany, and this one for the Harding University Men’s Ensemble, ca. 1979, and this one for a real blast from the past, the four 78 rpm sides recorded by the Harding College A Cappella Chorus in 1947 in Chicago, under the direction of Andy T. Rithie–when my father was singing in the chorus.
Also, if you live in Regina, come to the Prairie Chamber Choir concert May 14! You can buy tickets online.
