Davis Chorale awarded for musical contribution to Davis community
The Davis School Arts Foundation presented the Harmony in Our Lives Award to the Davis Chorale on Jan. 20. The award recognizes contribution to musical enrichment in the Davis community.
The Davis Chorale celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and hopes that the award — as well as the anniversary — will enable it to gain a larger audience and connect with the community even more.
“What we’re looking to do is to build a connection with the audience and with people who are looking for a connection with music that they might not have on a daily basis,” said Alison Skinner, the artistic director of the Davis Chorale. “We’re trying to do much more concerts in the community in different places, including public spaces and senior living spaces. We get a lot of feedback that people who are listening to those concerts really appreciate them.”
Skinner also voiced her excitement in winning the Harmony of Our Lives Award in light of the vocal prestige that accompanies it. According to Skinner, the list of previous winners of the award includes every major music teacher in town, many of whom she looked up to growing up due to “their profound impact on the lives of many people in the community.”
Lorraine Visher, the president of the Davis School Arts Foundation, explained that the main objective of the award is to recognize someone who’s made a lasting contribution to the Davis music community. The Davis Chorale fit all the criteria.
“The Davis Chorale received many, many nominations — more than any other group,” Visher said. “Not only do they do their own concerts, but they work with other groups and reach more people and offer more, making the music reach out even further.”
Groups that the Chorale has collaborated with include the UC Davis Chorus and Symphony, the Applegate Dance Studio, the Davis Children’s Chorale, the Camellia Symphony in Sacramento and the Davis Community Church.
“They’ve brought joy to an even larger portion of the community,” Visher said. “They’re a group that went from being very small to being a group with 80 members, and they’re in their 40th year. They bring people from all different places and different levels of music experience and create something wonderful for everyone in our community.”
Alice Provost, the choir manager of the Davis Chorale, explained her personal experience in the group and how she has witnessed their contribution to the community.
“I love singing in the chorale,” Provost said. “It brings all sorts of people together. There’s different ages, including people who have been there all 40 years and younger people who come in and just want to create beautiful music. We’re involved in multiple levels, from the Children’s Chorale to local musicians. We bring all different levels of music from a community that we get to work with.”
The Davis Chorale looks forward to expanding its audience and being able to connect with even more people through its music.
“There’s this thing about singing as a way of expressing emotions or experiences everyone has,” Skinner said. “One of the things about singing that is so great compared to other artistic formats is that you get text. And text just on its own has meaning, but when you put it together with a composer’s idea of how to express it, it becomes really powerful.”
The Harmony Award brings attention to the importance of music in the community, as Visher explained, since she believes the power of music can both heal and unite people.
“Music can be such a healing source for children and adults, helping us to calm ourselves and feel less alone and feel more joy,” Visher said. “It’s a universal language that people understand the world over and brings us closer together and builds bridges with other people — which is something we need badly in the world right now — so it’s very, very important.”
Written By: Hadya Amin — city@theaggie.org
