Missouri Classical Music News

[Prison music director Elvera] Voth often tells reporters of one inmate's astonishment when the choir received a standing ovation. Voth thinks the experience of learning to sing, following the discipline of rehearsals and learning to perform in harmony teaches many inmates to work in a community, an experience they may not have had.

Cohen notes that most of the inmates not only learn to sing and to read music, but they also learn to sing in classical music pieces often in other languages.

The Lawrence concert "How Can I Keep From Singing" will be an eclectic mix of works by Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert, Verdi's "Va Pensiero" (a paraphrase of Psalm 137), "Down to the River to Pray" and "Rap of Redemption: I Wish I Never Hurt You," a unique and powerful blend of an inmate's rap lyrics with Gregorian chants.

In one of her research projects, Cohen interviewed and surveyed inmates and volunteers in the Lansing choir. Her survey indicates "inmates tend to view performing in the choir as learning something about themselves - developing musical and social skills, and expanding their musical tastes - while volunteers reported that they have learned to view inmates as individuals."