Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Kewanee Voice’s print edition of the Holiday Herald. It’s been edited for content.
No one seems to know the exact date that the Kewanee Community Choir was formed.
But as the people know who attended any of the choir’s four performances of its Christmas concerts earlier this year, the choir is still going strong.
To continue presenting its two concert programs each year, the choir’s director, Sue Sagmoen, and her assistant, Linnea Gustafson, welcome any new singers who want to join the group.
The Community Choir traces its history back at least to 1990. It’s sponsored by the Kewanee Arts Council, which at the time also sponsored theatrical performances in Kewanee.
A scrapbook filled with concert programs, photos and other documents from those early days has a program from a 1990 concert, which was performed in the auditorium at Black Hawk College East Campus. For that concert, Eleanor Milnes was the choir director.
The choir has also been directed by Don Lundberg, Jim Blucker and Dan Craig.
The scrapbook contains a roster that lists more than 40 choir members sorted into soprano, alto, tenor and bass singers.
This year’s choir is still large, with more than 30 members. That’s enough to fill a church or auditorium with music.
Anyone who likes to sing can join the Community Choir.
“We invite anybody who has a joy for singing,” Sagmoen said.
Each year the bill for the Christmas concert ranges from sacred music to novelty-type songs. For example, this year’s concert included songs like “Christmas Sanctus” and “O Come Emmanuel” and a Santa-oriented song called “The Man with the Bag.”
The spring concert usually features medleys of Broadway tunes, or choral versions of other popular music. Between songs, Gustafson gives readings she has written that tell the history of the songs or share a whimsical story.
Picking out the music for a concert is a time-consuming process. Sagmoen visits the websites of music publishers in search of appropriate tunes, and she often selects songs the choir has performed at previous concerts.
The sheet music for a concert can cost hundreds of dollars. That money comes from donations from the community.
Sagmoen said the Kewanee Rotary Club’s charitable foundation is a major donor to the choir.
Rehearsals for the spring choir will begin early next year. The rehearsal schedule will be carried in The Kewanee Voice as soon as it’s announced.
So, if you can carry a tune and read music, and you’d like to share your talents with the community, just show up at one of the rehearsals.
