By Reese Merritt
@reesemerritt_
On every Tuesday evening, shoes click up the grand, light grey steps of Marsh Memorial, and filled in those shoes are people with voices of song, no matter their age, no matter where they are from.
Together they are one diverse community, assembling together in the wooden pews of Marsh and effortlessly allowing melodies, harmonies and a whole lot of belly laughs squeeze through the screened windows on either side of the chapel.
The Springfield College Singers and Community Chorus have been around since the fall of 2015, originally established by Alexandra Ludwig, providing people within the Springfield community an outlet to embrace their musical sides and contribute to the school community.
“I love that I feel like I’m getting better,” Jeanne Marker said. “I’m expanding my mind. I just love being with everybody.”
Marker, who has been with the chorus for two years as a soprano, had a great desire to join a chorus following her retirement as an elementary music teacher.
“I was really looking forward to doing this once I retired,” Marker said. “And then, when my grandson sang with us, it just meant so much to me because music is in him.”
It was clear that Ludwig, former Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Visual & Performing Arts Department at Springfield College, had built a community of belonging and enthusiasm, and like so many of the singers, Marker felt Ludwig’s impact.
“She was very accepting. And of course, she saw my grandson singing in December and then let him join for the April [concert]. I mean, how many people would do that?” Marker said.
“She’s always worked at both holding her groups to a very high musical standard as well as really encouraging fun,” Aidan Linden said, Choral Director and music teacher at the Hampshire Regional High School. “Her spontaneous way of directing and involving the audience in sing-alongs and concerts is something that I also identify with, and is something that’s really important to me.”
Then, it was time for a voice to exit for one last time. That voice being Ludwig’s.
Ludwig would go on to leave her nearly 18-year home at Springfield College over the summer to teach at the Northfield Mount Hermon School as the Director of Choral Activities. There was a sense of loss for both Ludwig and the rest of the chorus. A new conductor was needed.
In an email to all members of the community chorus, explaining her departure, Ludwig said, “He was the first person I thought of when I pondered who would bring as much heart, relaxed fun, and beautiful music to you as possible.”
Except, who is he?
He is Aidan Linden.
And for Linden, this was a chorus he wanted to step into, representing a new pair of shoes to walk up the stairs of Marsh.
“To me, the joy of directing a chorus, being in a chorus, is all about those personal connections and those can’t happen without a really warm and welcoming atmosphere,” Linden said. “So, when Alex [Ludwig] asked me to take over, I knew that the kind of chorus and the kind of environment that I’d be stepping into is one that already shares a lot of my same values as a director.”
Now that Linden has had three months to settle in, and see what styles work and don’t work, he already has a future goal in mind. A goal similar to the message in Michael Engelhardt’s musical piece “How Good!” explaining how pleasant it is when people from various backgrounds come together and form one unified body. Specifically, as the verses’ lyrics go, “Diversity; Oh, let it be our identity!”
“I think one of the group’s greatest strengths [is] that we have many different people that are coming from different walks of life. So I would love to get more students from Springfield College,” Linden said. “I’d love to get more freshmen, I’d love to get more seniors, I’d love to encourage more singers from the college. Enroll.”
The diversity of the group continues to echo through the pews of the chapel even regarding musical experience. Some singers have decades of experience, others have never read sheet music in their lifetime.
Truly, the Springfield College Singers and Community Chorus will welcome anyone.
For Springfield College students, the Springfield College Singers is a one-credit course that occurs for two hours each Tuesday evening and may be repeated for multiple semesters.
The Annual Winter Concert is at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 in the Marsh Memorial Chapel, which will feature the Springfield College Singers and Community Chorus, and the Springfield College Band, directed by Christopher Gagne.
Photo Courtesy of Reese Merritt