McCain Auditorium was packed shoulder to shoulder Friday night for the first K-State Singers show of the year. The theme for this year’s fall show was “Bodies in Motion.”
“It was great. They are a fantastic group to watch, and they are a lot of fun and energetic,” said Bryce Garver, sophomore in industrial engineering, who was watching the Singers for the second time. “My favorite part was the country music.”
The Singers performed a variety songs for the audience to fit the theme of the show. Included were classics such as Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” all the way to modern hits like Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” and Gym Class Heroes’ “Stereo Hearts.”
“Eye of the Tiger by far,” said Kody Lynn, K-State Singer and senior in marketing, on his favorite performance of the night. “It was so upbeat and just awesome. I’m so glad that the crowd liked it.”
It is tradition for the K-State Singers’ shows to have a theme with a double meaning, which allows for a performance with a very unique track list.
“We get suggestions from the members of the group. After we get about two or three suggestions from each of them, we decide on what songs would fit,” said Joshua Oppenheim, co-director of choral activities and assistant professor of music.
Preparing for a show is not an easy task for the Singers, as many hours of preparation go into every performance.
“During the semester, we practice everyday Monday through Friday, 3:30 to 5:30,” Lynn said. “When it comes to show week, we put in an extra 15 to 20 hours on top of what we normally do. So it’s a lot of work.”
Oppenheim said that a K-State Singers show is unlike many other concerts at McCain Auditorium because it encourages audience participation.
“It’s not like a traditional black-tie concert,” Oppenheim said. “[The Singers] like it to be, and it’s supposed to be, sort of a rock-concert atmosphere with the crowd screaming and clapping. So that is part of the atmosphere that we like to generate.”
K-State Singers is a group of 16 performers, eight men and eight women. The group is a show choir, meaning that they not only sing, but also dance. Members of K-State Singers are selected in the spring of each year and begin practice in the fall when school starts. The group has one major performance every semester in McCain Auditorium, and goes on the road for a number of performances as well.
