Members of the board of directors for the Oxford Civic Chorus met Tuesday night to plan the choir’s upcoming season packed with fundraising events, performances and community engagements. 

“We want to represent Oxford, we want to be a part of the Oxford community,” said board president and 19-year Oxford resident Stephanie Young, who joined the choir with her son five years ago. “We don’t want to be just a little auxiliary choir, we want to be more present and interactive.”

Auditions for the choir took place on August 21 and 28, and now the members are preparing for a busy holiday calendar. Their annual Christmas concert is slated for December 10, and they will also sing carols at the Oxford Christmas tree lighting and the Gertrude C. Ford Center’s Gingerbread Village.

Between Monday night rehearsals, the board is planning events to fundraise for the group’s “Angel Fund” which acts as a scholarship for potential members. “We want to make our choir more available for everyone to sing so that helps cover membership dues as well as performance attire,” Young explained.

“We want to make our choir more available for everyone to sing so that helps cover membership dues as well as performance attire,” Young explained.

Their first fundraiser will be at Chipotle on September 19 when 50 percent of the store’s sales will benefit OCC.

Young said that she hopes more students and young people will join the chorus, noting that the age range of members spans from 16 to well into the 60s. She understands that some students may have commitments preventing them from attending the weekly rehearsals, but she hopes to provide opportunities for students to sing for volunteer hours at places like retirement communities and hospitals.

Although general audition times have passed, those with prior choral experience can contact director Thomas Ardery at thomas.ardery@gmail.com to set up an audition consisting of scales and pitch matching exercises.

Ardery, who is also the choral director at Oxford High School,  is in his fourth year as a choral member and his third year as artistic director of the group. A native of Madison, Alabama he has been involved in music all of his life, a member of the chorus and throughout his time in school at Auburn University and during graduate school at the University of Mississippi. 

He said that the choir is a good option for students that may not have the time to commit to the choir at Ole Miss, and is an opportunity to meet people in the community that they would not normally interact with.”We have people from everywhere,” Ardery said. “It’s a great group of people, a very accepting group of people, definitely not an intimidating experience.”

“We have people from everywhere,” Ardery said. “It’s a great group of people, a very accepting group of people, definitely not an intimidating experience.”

He is hoping more voices will add to the choir this year, expanding the age range of the group that spans from 16 to 60.

“Every year we have a few graduate students but this is the first year that we’ve had a quite a few undergraduates as well,” Ardery said. 

For those that aren’t interested in singing, Young said that the Chorus is also in need of a couple of interns for marketing and fundraising roles for the upcoming year.

21-year-old Sarah Baker has joined the chorus for the first time this year as historian for the group to help with documenting performances and promotion on social media.

“I was looking for a way to get plugged back into the Oxford arts,” Baker said, “It was a great way for me to do my thing and help out with the community.”

Students who are interested in interning for OCC should email the group at OCC38655@gmail.com. They also have a Facebook page that will post updates on more fundraisers, performances, and community engagement opportunities as the plans become finalized.