Los Angeles Mission College (LAMC) is welcoming all voices for its fall choir.
Led by Grammy-nominated professor Joshua Wentz, the musical ensemble is open to singers of all levels and backgrounds from the campus community and the community-at-large, and doesn’t require a formal audition. At other college campuses, the choir oftentimes is limited to music majors, but Wentz encourages everyone with an interest in singing to participate.
“This choir is about building community through music,” says Wentz. “Whether you’re a seasoned singer or just starting out, you’ll find a place here.
“I’ve had a lot of people over the years who’ve come back for enrichment. One lady, Sue Ellen, was in her mid-80s and a widow, and she said she always wanted to learn how to sing, so she came and did just that.
“I call it my bag of mixed nuts. I get a little bit of everything. I get different ages and abilities,” Wentz described. The “vibe” and the musical direction of the class are determined by who signs up.
“During the first couple of weeks, I work with people on just breathing and using their voice, making a tone and starting to sing on correct pitches. And then we move into singing canons and harmonizing.”
The notion that you must have a naturally beautiful voice to sing can rob you of the experience and joy.
“We all have this God-given talent that’s in there, this voice that’s unique, and it’s unlike anybody else’s instrument in the entire world,” said Wentz. “Because it’s uniquely ours, it’s just a shame if people suppress that voice and don’t express themselves with it, because there’s none like it in the rest of the world than your own personal voice.”
Wentz pairs up more advanced and veteran singers with those who are less experienced.
“They take on almost a teacher or a coach role and help their classmates. That peer-to-peer education is really a good component to this whole thing that makes it seem more like a family and not just a class.”
Giving opportunity and experience in a supportive environment is a component that Wentz wants to share. He is an internationally renowned conductor and a two-time quarterfinalist for the Grammy Music Educator of the Year.
He is also a professional opera singer who spent 12 years before teaching full-time at Mission College, singing around the U.S. and abroad.
“I sang in Europe many, many times and was a part-time educator and full-time performer. I went back and got my doctorate, and thought, I want to teach full-time and be a part-time performer.”
Wentz also runs Mission Opera, a nonprofit at the Santa Clarita opera company.
He anticipates the upcoming choir to be “inclusive and dynamic” and has already scheduled performances for the LA Mission College Choir:
● Saturday, Oct. 11– Collaborative Concert with the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
● Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.– Annual “Winter Holidays of the World” Concert at LAMC AMP Theater
“Music feeds us all. I tell people, whatever the job you get later in life, keep your music alive. You might be an accountant, you might be a stockbroker, a surgeon, a grant writer or at a job you might consider boring or mundane, if you keep your music alive and sing, it’s just so good for the soul.”
The LA Mission College choir will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 2, and will run through Thursday, Dec. 11, meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. at the college’s Arts Media and Performance Building (AMP), Room 115, located at 13356 Eldridge Ave., Sylmar.
If you’re interested in enrolling, go to: www.lamission.edu to apply and enroll in MUSIC 501, a one-unit course costing $46 per unit. For more information, contact Dr. Joshua Wentz at wentzj@laccd.edu.