Lindsey Graham | Assistant News Editor
This academic year, Buena Vista University (BVU) hired a new Assistant Professor of Music, Dr. Merrin Guice. As part of a Buena Vista University tradition, Dr. Guice is taking the choir on a tour this May. However, she is trying to expand the program to be more of a traditional college choir tour, than the past tours at BVU.
“Part of college choir is to tour and represent the school,” said Guice. “BV has a history of touring, but this year there will be a variety of locations.” The tour will take 54 members of the choir to Madison, WI, Detroit, MI, Toronto, Canada, and Chicago, IL.
Their tour of performances, lasting from May 26 to May 31, will be located at various high schools in these cities. At each location that the choir visits, there will be different sets of songs that they will perform. The choir tours are used by BVU as a recruitment tour to make students aware of the great choral program here on campus.
According to senior Andrea Nicholson, who is serving as the Tour Guide Manager for this trip, previous tours have typically been to one location, such as Colorado. “It will be a really good experience of a professional tour without going to only one place, but actually going to multiple cities,” she said.
As Tour Guide Manager, Nicholson mentioned what a great opportunity it is to have a hands-on experience with the tour, since she will be graduating this month. With this role, Nicholson has been in charge of calling hotels, making arrangements, and figuring out the logistics of places to eat and visit in each city the choir is travelling to. “I love planning stuff like this,” Nicholson said.
The choir will be staying at least one night in each city as they make their journey. There will be some free time in the cities between performances for the students to experience the large cities, which is an especially exciting aspect for BVU students from smaller cities.
“This is the age where we travel,” Nicholson said. “The choir tour is a great reason for students to get their passports, if they did not have one already. I’m just hoping the tour lives up to their expectations,” she said.
The choir is very excited to be going on the trip, and so is Dr. Guice. “I want to show off our fabulous students and their dedication. Going on tour bonds a group, and creates a new standard for them. They want to do better after each performance, “ said Guice.
Photo by Stephanie Steiner
