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The Oxford Chorale seeking members for reformed choir

Katie Rico

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By Katie Rico, Contributing Writer 1:28 PM Friday, November 20, 2009

Since the Oxford Choral Ensemble disassembled a few years ago, local residents and members of the group found themselves missing the music.

Those community members have recently been able to find a new outlet for their passion with the reestablishment of the choir, now known as The Oxford Chorale.

Oxford resident Jim Patton, who has a background in music and extensive experience in choir work, decided to rebuild the choir after he was unable to find a similar choral group to take part in locally. Many members of the old ensemble shared his interest for the group as well, helping to set the base in the rebuilding process.

Patton has taken on the role of conductor, with his wife, Tisha, playing accompaniment for the group.

Patton said that while it is an auditioned group, in the rebuilding process he is focused on making The Oxford Chorale a community organization and maintaining a community connection.

“We have 27 names on our list right now, but we would like to see that expand some. We invite people to talk with us and meet with us,” he said.

The group is made up of both males and females who are mostly middle-aged. Many work at Miami University and other local businesses.

Joan Hoover, a member of Oxford’s original choir who joined again when it regrouped, said that right now about half of the members are from the original ensemble.

When Patton began the process of restarting the choir he contacted Hoover, whose husband also was in the original group. From there, the Hoovers contacted all former members to see if there was an interest in joining again, with hopes of getting a sizeable group excited about the idea.

Hoover said she was pleased when Patton reached her about the choir group.

“We really missed singing good music, good four-part music that had a little more difficulty to it and being able to prepare for a couple of concerts,” Hoover said.

The Oxford Chorale is preparing to share their passion for singing and music with the rest of the Oxford community and other guests at their Christmas concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at The Community Arts Center.

Patton said the concert would consist of a mix of fairly serious music as well as more popular Christmas and holiday tunes.

There is no cost for the performance, but donations will be accepted.

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