Maryville College Concert Choir sings of hope and faith amid changing ‘Times’ on annual spring choir tour
Feb. 7, 2025
As ambassadors to the communities where they’ll perform, members of the Maryville College Concert Choir have a timely message for the 2025 Spring Choir Tour: “Times, They Are A-Changing,” but through music, connections can be made and unity can be achieved.
The MC Concert Choir begins its spring performance season with a 4 p.m. concert on Sunday, Feb. 23, at St. James Episcopal Church in Knoxville, before wishing fellow MC students farewell at 12:30 p.m. March 4 with a send-off concert in the Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall of the Clayton Center for the Arts on the MC campus. A spring tradition, the annual choir tour brings the College’s singing Scots to churches and other venues throughout the country.
This year, the choir heads southeast for performances in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida before returning to East Tennessee for a March 21 homecoming concert in the Clayton Center’s Ronald and Lynda Nutt Theatre. Upcoming Spring Choir Tour performance stops include:
- 4 p.m. Feb. 23 at St. James Episcopal, 1101 N. Broadway Ave., Knoxville;
- 12:30 p.m. March 4 in the Lambert Recital Hall of the Clayton Center for the Arts;
- 7 p.m. March 5: Ash Wednesday service at Fort Hill Presbyterian Church, 101 Edgewood Ave., Clemson, South Carolina;
- 7 p.m. March 6 at St. Simons Presbyterian Church, 205 Kings Way, St. Simons Island, Georgia;
- 7 p.m. March 7 at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, Florida;
- 11 a.m. March 9: MC Concert Choir worship service performance at Central Presbyterian in Atlanta;
- 5:30 p.m. March 9: Fairfield Glade Community Church, 521 Snead Drive in Crossville;
- 7 p.m. March 21: MC Homecoming Concert at 7 p.m. in the Nutt Theatre of the Clayton Center (admission is $10);
- 4 p.m. March 30: New Providence Presbyterian Church, 703 W. Broadway Ave., Maryville; and
- 3 p.m. April 12: Off Kilter, the Lads and the Lassies perform at Knoxville Opera’s Rossini Festival in downtown Knoxville.
For more information on the March 21 performance, contact the Clayton Center box office at 865-981-8590.
Despite the current socio-political climate, the tour — themed around folk legend Bob Dylan’s 1964 song of the same name — is designed to inspire perseverance through those changes, according to Stacey Wilner, senior lecturer of music and director of choral activities at Maryville College.
“In times of change and uncertainty, music has a unique ability to connect us, provide comfort, and spark introspection,” Wilner said. “My hope is that audiences walk away from our performances feeling a sense of shared humanity and hope. The repertoire we’ve chosen offers a reflection of resilience, compassion, the enduring power of community, and the comfort found in a spiritual connection to something greater than ourselves.”
Audiences, Wilner added, can expect a repertoire drawn on many of the songs that came out of the era of social and political change: the 1960s, when Dylan and writers of many of the other selections — Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” Pete Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer,” Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird” and the public domain gospel protest song “We Shall Overcome” — answered turmoil with music.
“Every year, I search for music that connects with the times and will resonate with both the students and audiences,” Wilner said. “Over the summer, I started looking for choral arrangements of music from that time and stumbled upon an arrangement by the Podd brothers of Dylan’s ‘Times, They Are A-Changin.’ And since it is Lenten season when we are traveling, we also have meditative selections such as ‘Nearer My God to Thee,’ ‘Precious Lord’ and ‘Esto Les Digo (The Lord’s Prayer).’
“Three selections, in particular, resonate deeply with the message we wish to share. ‘I Believe’ by Mark Miller; ‘We Shall Overcome.’ arranged by G. Phillip Shoultz III; and ‘Cornerstone’ by Shawn Kirchner all carry profound messages of faith, hope and finding stability in a changing world. These songs serve as powerful reminders of the strength we find in shared values and in lifting each other up.”
And that, pointed out Kathleen Farnham, director of Church Relations at Maryville College, is precisely why the annual choir tour is such a treasured tradition: It allows congregations of the Presbyterian (USA) denomination — of which the College has been affiliated since its foundation in 1819 by the Rev. Isaac Anderson — to find comfort and solace in the voices of MC students who bring tidings of strength and perseverance, and to open their homes to students who stay with them as guests while on tour.
“Without the generosity and hospitality of our partner churches, the choir tour would be unaffordable,” Farnham said. “The connection, however, is far richer than a transactional ‘will sing for food and lodging.’ Many of the choir tour churches bring their youth to Montreat Middle School Conference at Maryville or have clergy on the MC Board of Church Visitors, or have hosted choir tour members before, and they all welcome students with open arms, open hearts and open refrigerators.
“Hearing the Concert Choir in a church is a spiritual experience that bonds the choir and the audience in a very special way. Add to that an evening at the host’s house (often a church choir member) getting to know each other, singing or playing the piano, and indulging in late-night snacks, it’s no surprise the students and hosts return the next morning practically as family.”
Farnham, Wilner added, plays a role annually in plotting out the tour stops based on suggestions from alumni, colleagues and family members of student singers, as well as on the requests by certain congregations familiar with the Concert Choir’s musical reputation.
“The annual tour includes many diverse performance locations — churches, schools, assisted living facilities, and even a breakfast program for those experiencing homelessness at Central Presbyterian (in Atlanta) this year,” Wilner said. “These venues were thoughtfully chosen with the help of Kathleen, as well as input from the offices of Advancement and Admissions. Each stop on the tour provides a unique opportunity to connect with people from all walks of life.”
This year’s tour will be the first for Choral Assistant Jacob Parauka, whose choral experiences led to his addition to the MC faculty last year. With a master’s degree from Troy University, Parauka has plenty of choral experience that includes choir tours with other ensembles, but the opportunity to join the Maryville College Concert Choir is one he’s excited to take part in.
“The MC Concert Choir is one of the most spirited and joyful choral ensembles I’ve had the opportunity to work with and sing in,” he said. “They are, of course, very capable and sensitive musicians too, but I believe that the first two qualities are what are most important when making music. Sometimes that passion can be hard to find, and I’m very grateful to join a program full of committed students. They continually inspire me as a musician and make my work that much more fulfilling.
“Choir tours are an incredible opportunity to create beautiful music and make memories with your friends that will carry into the rest of your life, and helping provide that opportunity to our students is deeply important to me.”
And carrying the hope and wonder so sorely needed by members of the audiences for which those students will perform is deeply important to Wilner. Every venue, she added, is one in which the sacred nature of its purpose uplifts her performers, who in turn bring to those members a message of unity and purpose through song.
“Our goal is to create moments of pause and connection, inviting audiences to reflect on where we’ve been as a society and where we might go together,” she said. “Above all, I hope the music fosters a sense of unity and inspires people from different generations to listen more deeply — not only to the melodies but to each other.”