photo by: Contributed

Members of the Lawrence Children's Choir are pictured in this contributed photo.

After the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily moved the Lawrence Children’s Choir into a virtual format, the longtime choir is looking to rebuild and welcome both new members and the community into the fold.

The award-winning choir marked its 30-year anniversary amid the pandemic, which brought with it safety concerns about singing in groups — one of the first superspreader events being a choir practice in Washington — and ultimately led to a more than 50% reduction in the choir’s membership.

“The pandemic was challenging, of course, for everyone, every group, every business, every school,” said Artistic Director Gabe Lewis-O’Connor. “But the online choir experience was, I think, uniquely challenging, both in that it’s inherently a communal and a social activity.”

photo by: Ashley Golledge

Gabe Lewis-O’Connor is pictured in front of the Turnhalle Building in Lawrence on Monday, May 10, 2021.

Lewis-O’Connor, who took over in 2021 after the retirement of Carolyn Welch, said that the choir returned to in-person with precautions such as at-the-door temperature checks in the fall of 2021. The program has four choirs, ranging from age 3 to 12th grade, and he said while the two younger choirs have seen numbers begin to rebound, the two for older students, including the program’s flagship ensemble, Tour Choir, remain small. Specifically, Lewis-O’Connor said that before the pandemic, the Tour Choir ranged from 60 to 80 singers, and right now has about 20.

In past years, the tour choir has performed internationally and throughout the U.S.

The Lawrence Children’s Choir, which was founded by Janeal Crabb Krehbiel and her sister, Marilyn Crabb Epp, in 1991, has also performed several times at Carnegie Hall in New York and has released multiple CDs.

As part of an effort to rebuild after the pandemic, Lewis-O’Connor said the Lawrence Children’s Choir will open enrollment in its two older choirs in December, inviting new members to join in January when the choir will begin a new set of music. The two younger choirs continue to operate on eight-week sessions and will enroll in December as typical, but the midyear enrollment period represents a change for the older choirs.

photo by: contributed

Members of the Lawrence Children’s Choir are pictured in this contributed photo.

Another change that Lewis-O’Connor, who is a Lawrence native and Lawrence Children’s Choir alumnus, has brought about is a public preview performance of the choir’s concert, which he hopes will be a chance for both interested singers and the public to see the choir perform. Lewis-O’Connor said the preview concert is part of an effort to share what the choir does with more people.

“I think in general this is kind of a new concept for LCC,” he said. “And I think what we are also really doing is experimenting — experimenting with how people can enjoy music and can enjoy live performances but also feel welcome, empowered to come, so I could even see this being the beginning of a shift overall.”

Lewis-O’Connor said for those who may be interested in joining the choir, it gives them a chance to understand what the program is all about. Though the choir calls for auditions, Lewis-O’Connor said he calls the auditions “meet and sings” to try to convey a more relaxed process that allows interested singers and their families the chance to learn more about the choir. He also noted the choir has a dedicated scholarship fund that provides partial and full scholarships.

“Our biggest thing is how can we help anyone who’s interested have this professional level choral education no matter what,” Lewis-O’Connor said.

The Lawrence Children’s Choir preview performance will take place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 at Trinity Lutheran Church, which is next to South Park at 1245 New Hampshire St. Lewis-O’Connor said the preview performance is free and open to the public and will be less than an hour long. The full performance will take place the next day. More information about enrollment and performances is available on the program’s website, lawrencechildrenschoir.org.