Students unite communities with a concert, conversations

Some say music has the power to bring people together, and for hundreds of people this October, it did just that. 

At the second annual Unity Concert, held this year at Metropolitan Church of God in Hoover, more than 200 students, their families and friends, and other supportive community members gathered to hear a concert that brought two communities together. 

The idea for the Unity Concert started in 2016, when Chelsea High School Choral Music Director Kay Dick and Jackson-Olin High School Choral Music Director Tracey Hooper met at the American Choral Directors Association Summer Conference. 

Dick reached out to Hooper about collaborating to bring their students together to overcome cultural stereotypes and the differences they may have, coming from different backgrounds and different schools.

Dick said she has always seen some division in the world, but it seems to be worse now than it has been at any other point in her life. Seeing the racial divide in the U.S., as well as division due to cultural, socioeconomic or political differences, grieves her, Dick said, so she decided to work to make a change in her community.

“I just decided that you have to do something where you are,” Dick said. “You can’t just wring your hands and be upset about everything out there, and that’s how this came about.”

Dick and Hooper eventually decided to hold a performance where their choirs sang together and separately, and to focus on using music to bring communities together. 

“We are both big believers in the power of music. Music changes people, it reaches people,” Dick said.

They held the first event Nov. 17, 2016, during which students confronted stereotypes, asked questions of each other and bonded over music.

Last year’s concert had a positive impact on everyone who participated and attended, Dick said, and this year the concert included even more groups. Chelsea’s Men’s, Women’s and Out of the Blue choirs participated, along with appearances by the Chelsea Middle School Girls Choir and the Mt Laurel Knightingales.

On the day of the concert, students got together several hours before the performance was set to start. It was a time for them to talk to each other and break down some of the barriers that stereotypes can cause. 

Through fellowship, rehearsal and a meal, Dick said she saw all of the “cliques” students were in break apart, and an honest conversation emerged.

“Students figured out, ‘We’re just the same. …We’re different, and we celebrate those differences, but in the end, we’re just the same,’” Dick said, adding that students bonded over their mutual love of music rather than staying apart because of their different backgrounds.

The performance was extremely moving, Dick said, and some of the other choral directors relayed that parents were overwhelmed at their kids being involved in an effort to unify communities. A favorite part of the night, however, did not involve singing. 

As audience members arrived, they were handed a slip of paper that read, “Unity is …” and asked them to fill in the blank. At the end of the night, the slips were collected and read on stage. 

“They read those audience comments about what they thought unity was, and that just really, it confirmed some things to me. It just let me know that the audience gets it,” she said.

Next year, they hope to continue to spread the message to an even bigger audience, continuing to use music to push away stereotypes and prejudice.

“Those stereotypes are already there,” she said, “so we just have fun breaking those down, singing and sharing the gift of music.”