(Left to Right) Kristin Lafferty, Elise Felker, Morgan Bott, Isobel McCullough, and Julia Curran practice during their class period. Photo courtesy of Elise Felker.
The University of Rhode Island’s music department offers many chamber music ensembles, but one sticks out in
URI junior Elise Felker got involved with barbershop quartets and took notice that there weren’t many female groups singing in that style. As a result, Felker wanted to create an environment within her department that was all about women supporting each other.
“Being in a music ensemble takes a certain amount of trust and vulnerability and you already create this sense of community within the ensemble,” Felker explained. “So I thought, if we had a female group and a female ensemble, we could have that women support women mentality and we could create a nice, encouraging, safe, collaborative and empowering environment within that ensemble.”
However, Felker could not create this environment on her own. In the spring of last semester, she approached Dr. Audrey Cardany, an associate professor of music and music education, with her idea.
“I really wanted a strong female director who kind of shared the same ideals and the same philosophy about the ensemble as I did,” Felker said.
Cardany was the first and only person that Felker approached in the middle of the spring semester of last year to be director of the ensemble. She showed no hesitation in her acceptance of the position and in showing her support.
Cardany was excited for the opportunity to work with this specific group of students in a smaller chamber music ensemble, allowing her to change up her style of directing.
“You become more of a coach and a facilitator and less someone who makes all of the decisions and sort of ‘follow the stick’ if you will, the baton, and that I found exciting and that motivated me to be a part of it,” Cardany said about working with a chamber group.
The process of creating the group involved many meetings with the Music Department Chair Mark Carnley, emails to voice faculty and getting student support before the class, 389Z, Voces Excelsis, or High Voices, was first offered in the fall of 2018.
“I never had to fight for it.” said Felker. “All the faculty was really supportive of it, but I was nervous that none of the students would be interested in it.”
However, after first announcing the idea to students that spring, twenty students signed up to show their interest.
For Felker, it’s all about community and mutual support with her peers.
“This choir is so important to me because we’re able to show our support for each other without even having to say it because we are participating and creating art together,” Felker said.
The goal was for the class to be offered in the fall of 2018 but she knew that it might be a long shot. Over the summer, after not hearing any news about the course and going away on vacation for a month, Felker got an email from Cardany telling her that the course was approved for the fall semester of 2018.
With experience as a music editor, some of Cardany’s goals for her students in directing this group include increased musicianship, understanding of different styles of repertoire and an understanding of rehearsing and developing musically through the voice. She strongly believes in the power of singing with a group.
“Sing when you have the opportunity to sing because singing with others is truly a human activity and I think we’re missing out when we don’t more of it,” Cardany said. “There are lots of informal and formal ways to do that.”
Felker wants students who might want to create their own course to know that it is important to be diligent and persistent as well as always ask questions.
“Know the philosophy of your course and be able to articulate that to whoever you have to present your ideas to,” she said.
She also emphasized the importance of being able to prove student interest and why this course is needed at the University of Rhode Island.