Mercer Singers to host concert for Family Weekend

Family, friends and alumni are coming to town on Sept. 17 for Family Weekend, and the music department is prepared to put on a show for them. The Mercer Singers are hosting a free Family Weekend concert at 2 p.m. in Fickling Hall.

“It’s right before the football game, so people can tailgate and come over and hear the choir and be able to get back to the ball game,” said Stanley Roberts, professor of choral conducting and associate dean of the Townsend School of Music.
Other students and groups from the music department will also be performing at the concert.

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“Mercer Singers is the host of the group, and we’ll be singing 4 or 5 pieces that we’ve learned so far this semester as well as the Alma Mater and the fight song because it’s Family Weekend,” Roberts said.

Each group will perform for about 5 or 7 minutes and the Mercer Singers will perform for 20 minutes.

“It’s a program that will give the listener a little bit of a taste of all of the parts of the music school,” Roberts said. “They’ll get to hear some strings, some wind instruments. They’ll get to hear the piano . . . and the choir.”

This year’s group of singers won’t look too much like last year’s. There were 13 singers that graduated, and 17 new singers have been added.

“The Family Weekend Concert gives us a chance to prepare quickly. There’s a sense of urgency of learning what you need to learn. It helps us to find our sound.” Roberts said. “We come in and rehearse for about three and a half weeks and boom, there’s a concert. It’s great.”

Sophomore James Ruffin will be singing with the Mercer Singers for a second year.

“The upcoming concert is a good time because all of our family and friends come around to see all of our hard work, even from the first few weeks,” Ruffin said. “We like it when people get joy out of seeing us sing. We want to give back to the community. Always.”