Boys' choir gearing up at East Aiken Elementary

The South Boundary vocal men's group got started a few years ago, appropriately enough, with a bunch of guys who like to sing.

Then they started thinking about what they could do for the community and chose to work within the public school system to form a boys' choirs.

"We want them to learn to become singing men," said South Boundary member Jim Heffner.

Another South Boundary member, Bill Riehl, successfully organized the Boundary Boys at Chukker Creek Elementary School last year with the collaboration of teacher Joyce English.

Now the group is branching out to East Aiken Elementary School, where Tom Calhoun will direct that choir with the assistance of music teacher Megan Jensen.

Calhoun, Riehl and other South Boundary members visited the school Tuesday, singing for all the fourth- and fifth-grade boys to encourage them to join the choir when practice begins next week.

Jensen said a letter went out to parents this week describing the opportunity. The choir will meet Tuesday and Thursday after school for eight weeks initially, culminating with a performance for a City of Aiken 175th-anniversary event. Other programs will be scheduled during the school year.

"It's really amazing to see the faces of the boys and their response to this," Calhoun said Tuesday. "This could change their lives, as this is the beginning of music for a lot of these young men."

Music can be compared to being an athlete, he told the kids, like being musical athletes. They have to have stamina and learn notes and sing together as a team.

A retired business owner, Calhoun also served as a church music director. He told the boys about a 7-year-old girl named Dana, who joined his children's choir one year. She was clearly very nervous at first, but slowly she became more comfortable. Two years later, the choir sang at a Methodist pastors' conference in front of 5,000 people, and Dana was a featured soloist.

"She started singing, and the crowd responded to her," Calhoun said. "Her eyes just lit up, and that was such a magic moment. That's a moment I hope you can have, too."

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.