Editor’s Note: Staff writer Kate Williams is a part of the choir that attended the retreat.
Point Loma Nazarene University’s Point Loma Singers received a packing list for the annual PLS choir retreat: Sheet music, games, great attitude, laughter and stories to share — the essentials to share a college choir experience that lingers in memory beyond graduation.
Keith Pedersen, PLNU choir director, started the retreat on Jan. 30 at his home church, La Jolla Presbyterian. It gave an opportunity for the 18 students to bond, pray, worship and practice pieces for their upcoming performance at the church’s 9 a.m. service on Feb. 15.
Lauren Juilfs, a fourth-year child development major at and the PLS president, organized the trip.
“It’s a lot of pressure…to get things right and to get things done, but then in the moment it feels so rewarding,” Juilfs said. “In a funny way it’s like a baby: you put all this time and effort into raising it and now you get to see it be successful.”
“Knowing that it’s your last year in choir makes it more sentimental and makes you appreciate the time you do have a lot more,” Juilfs said.
The singers left at 4 p.m. on Friday, driving in PLNU vans to the church. They enjoyed pizza and soda in the outdoor courtyard, where two singers, Josue Triche and Tait Leeper, danced to “The Cupid Shuffle” while the other singers clapped them on. Pedersen said he plans bonding experiences like this to build relationships within the choir.
“It’s important because it gives us time to spend together,” Pedersen said. “It’s always easier to make beautiful music with people that you like and know and trust.”
Two hours of rehearsal followed in the church’s Slusser music room. The singers fine-tuned pieces from last semester, like “Laus Trinitati,” a medieval Latin mystic song and “I Just Can’t Tell It All,” a modern gospel song. They also learned parts of new pieces, like “Soon-a Will Be Done,” an American folk spiritual originally sung by slaves in the 1800s. Pedersen chooses music with diversity in mind — not only to broaden the vocal skills of the singers, but also to introduce them to multicultural ideas found in music from different time periods and places.
Next, the field trip — a swirling drive to the top of Soledad Mountain, a military memorial providing a view of all of San Diego.
PLS took a photo in front of the 30-foot-tall white cross planted in the center of the memorial. The white cross was built in 1954 and was the subject of a legal dispute involving the separation of church and state in 1989. The legal turmoil lasted 26 years — in 2015, Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial Association bought the cross’ small plot from the Department of Defense, securing it as protected private property.
PLS’ “Warm and Fuzzies” tradition followed, where singers played games and shared what they loved about each other.
“I liked warm and fuzzies,” Ella Hallock, a second-year commercial music major, said. “I got to tell Lauren that she was an amazing and safe presence in the choir. We both teared up and it connected us even more than we were before.”
The next morning, the singers ate pancakes and eggs, cooked by the leaders. Throughout the trip, Pedersen assigned different tasks to each vocal group: The sopranos set up pizza dinner, the altos cleaned up, the basses cleaned up breakfast and the tenors helped set up the choir room.
After two devotionals, the worship team sang “I Thank God” and “Come to the Altar.”
“I was part of the worship team,” Annalyse Abrams, a first-year child development major, said. “I enjoy worship music more than I enjoy classical pieces. Everyone was up and dancing with us.”
Worship bonded PLS, but the heavy workload of music weighed on them. Many singers dozed when singing one or two measures of music over and over — balancing posture, tone quality, pitch, rhythm and lyrics for hours left the singers tired and cranky.
“I didn’t love the repetitiveness of singing for four hours at a time with little brain breaks,” Abrams said. “It felt like a lack of encouragement.”
Viewing La Jolla’s sea lions gave the singers a break around noon, another special tradition of the trip.
The retreat ended with an ethereal singing exercise in the church’s parking garage. PLS filled the echo chamber with “O Vos Omnes,” a religious piece composed for massive European cathedrals in the 1500s. The four parts of the somber, polyphonic piece bounced off the concrete walls, a lasting hum of pure auditory beauty.
“I am excited to come back in two weeks; it’s going to be fun having our first concert of the semester,” William Southcombe, a third-year electrical engineering major, said. “New songs, slightly new group, in a location we’re kind of familiar with.”
Cade Michaelson