Choirs rock Kent Hall
During the second annual USU Choir Rocks! concert, all traditional concert etiquette flew out the window.
The Kent Concert Hall was packed to its proverbial gills Tuesday night with whistling, clapping and cheering fans as the USU choirs performed Beatles songs with local Beatles cover band, Get Back.
“It’s the most well-attended artistic event of the year,” one choir singer said.
USU senior Tyler Putnam plays the guitar and sings for Get Back alongside his brother, Zach Putnam, a recent USU graduate.
Get Back also consists of fifth-grade school teacher Dave Jorgensen on the bass, drummer Marc Karpowich, an aviation management teacher and lab technician at USU, and John Morrey, who, Tyler Putnam said, does everything else. Morrey plays piano, keyboard, sitar, baseball, sings and does push-ups on stage, Putnam said.
Get Back has been playing together for about 3 1/2 years, and this is the second year they’ve played for the Choir Rocks! concert, Putnam said.
“People kept ripping our clothes off and stuff (last year),” Putnam said jokingly. “This year we have bodyguards.”
Although no bodyguards accompanied Get Back at the concert, they were backed up by organist Clayton Roberts on the song “Let It Be”. Roberts, amid wild cheers from the audience, played the Kent Concert Hall organ with a 3-foot-tall, curly wig perched on his head.
The USU choirs, dressed in jeans and black t-shirts with “Choir Rocks!” printed on the front, sang several songs with the band and a couple on their own, and they sat and listened to the band play a medley of songs from the Beatles’ Abbey Road album.
“Most students are thrilled to sing rock music,” said Cory Evans, director of choral activities at USU. “Their parents and friends think it’s great and often comment on its uniqueness, especially for a choir concert. This rock concert is a great way to feature these outstanding student singers in a genre they don’t often get to sing.”
The concert ended with “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” followed by an encore performance of “Let It Be,” as a crowd of audience members rushed in front of the stage to cheer and dance.
Evans said he occasionally has one or two students who feel that rock music isn’t “real” music and not challenging enough for their classically trained voices.
“The students soon realize, however, that the ability to make rock, pop or jazz music sound great requires a keen sense of rhythm and precision, and extra care with intonation and style,” Evans said. “A concert like this increases a student’s ‘musical street-smarts’ and helps them become more expressive in all genres they perform.”
-krouse@cc.usu.edu