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Singers can help others while polishing talent
New choir - Leader Don Hofer says the group will help charities with fundraising Thursday, April 05, 2007JANET GOETZE - THE OREGONIAN
Many churches are forming bands and praise teams of singers who lead the congregation in song, leaving members of traditional choirs without regular singing opportunities. Don Hofer is offering an alternative, however, with Voices of Hope, a new choir he's forming with singers from the metro area. His goal is to have a choral group well rehearsed by fall for concerts to help charitable organizations raise money for their projects. In addition, the choir will give singers an outlet for their talents. Hofer, 40, taught high school music for five years and directed music in churches for 10 years in California before moving to Oregon in 2005 as an insurance agent. He and his wife, Jill, participate in the music ministry at Horizon Community Church in Tualatin. His idea for a metropolitan singing group came from a choir that was started in 1995 by his mentor and former professor, Gary Bonner, whose Gary Bonner Singers perform primarily in Southern California. J. Bayard DuBois, another Bonner student and Hofer classmate at Azusa Pacific University, has started a similar group in Kent, Wash., called Breath of Aire. Hofer held an organizational meeting for Voices of Hope in March, and 30 singers gathered in the Tualatin High School choir room. Only 10 of the singers were men, which is typical, he said, especially for beginning choirs. Nevertheless, like community choral directors everywhere, he hopes more tenors, baritones and basses join the 10 sopranos and 10 altos who gathered for the first session. The group's next meeting will be 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Tualatin High School. Hofer said he expects the group to rehearse every two weeks through the summer, then weekly in September. He has selected music from a variety of styles: classical, folk, contemporary Christian and Broadway show tunes. Among the singers who showed up for the March meeting were Kim Kroeger of Beaverton and Kyle Hetu of Tualatin, who attended with her husband, George Hetu. Kroeger, the choral director at Tualatin High, has sung with many groups. "I think music is a gift to give people," she said. "It can heal people when they are hurting and lift them up when they are down." Kyle Hetu, who has sung in church choirs for many years, said the singing at the March session was high caliber. "They all seemed like they were music majors." Hofer wants the new choral group to help people improve their musical skills and build friendships. "My hope is that no matter what style of music we do, the audience will be able to connect with it," he said. "We want our choir to have an infectious attitude."Janet Goetze: jgoetze@earthlink.net