By Emily Miller
REXBURG, Idaho — From The Heart Choir will hold auditions this Thursday, April 21, and Friday, April 22, from 6-8 p.m. each night, with callbacks scheduled for Saturday, April 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. Auditions and callbacks will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located at 166 S. First East in Rexburg.
Auditioners should come prepared to sing one verse of a favorite hymn or song, and be ready to share previous singing and choral experience.
The choir will also be taking auditions for a pianist. Potential pianists can come to the regular audition times or contact the choir through Instagram to set up an audition time.
From The Heart is a community choir that has been around for decades. If you haven’t heard of them, that’s a little by design.
Choir president Annette Bley says the choir used to be a Ricks College choir (before the college became Brigham Young University-Idaho), but at some point over the years, the choir was cut from the school’s program. Bley says students wanted to continue participating in the choir, so it became a community choir, but that in an effort to not step on any toes, they decided to recruit choir members only by word of mouth, which became the tradition.
The choir’s presidency changes with each new semester, and with Bley at the helm, she and other choir members decided that it was time to spread the word more, in hopes of attracting more singers and more audience members for their performances later in the semester.
The choir is open to anyone 16 or older. The theme for this season is “The Restoring Power of Christ,” and will include music from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as from other faith traditions.
“It will be music from multiple denominations/churches, and anyone in the community is welcome to audition,” Bley says. She says the mission of the choir is, “to share the love of Jesus Christ through music and spoken word.”
From The Heart Choir rehearses every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. and Sunday from 6-8 p.m. at the LDS Church building at 166 S. First East in Rexburg.
“My favorite part about being in the choir is the goal of the choir,” Bley says. “Just being able to share that love of Jesus. The music is beautiful and the message is beautiful.”
There will be a $20 participation fee to help cover expenses, but Bley says they don’t want the cost to keep anyone from auditioning.
“If there is any worry or concern about this fee, I would love to have potential members reach out to me so I can work with them” Bley says. “We would much rather have willing and talented members, and wouldn’t turn them away in the event that they couldn’t pay the member fee. We would work something out to make sure they could join us.”
For more information on From The Heart Choir, connect with them on Facebook or Instagram.
