Furman Singers alumni return home in August

The Furman Singers alumni will perform Aug. 9 at the 10:30 a.m. worship service of First Baptist Church Greenville.

More than 150 alumni of the Furman University Singers will gather on campus Aug. 7-9 to celebrate their 19th biennial reunion, which will conclude with a performance Sunday, Aug. 9 during the 10:30 a.m. worship service at First Baptist Church of Greenville.

The program will be conducted by Hugh Floyd and Bingham Vick, Jr.  Floyd is the current director of the Furman Singers, while Vick directed the group from 1970 through 2010.

The public is invited to attend the Sunday worship service.

Several noted Singers alumni will serve as accompanists during the service, including Robert Blocker ’68, Dean of the School of Music at Yale University; Robert Haigler ’74, a retired teacher and performer in Chicago; and Paul Thomas ’11, organist at The Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul in Charleston.

“It’s amazing what happens when we all get together,” Floyd said.  “The singing is outstanding, the fellowship is genuine and full of fun, and we all go away with a great booster-shot of joy and satisfaction.”

The Singers reunions began in 1979 under Vick and the late DuPre Rhame, director and founder of the Furman Singers.

“It’s not unusual for college choirs to hold occasional reunions,” said Vick, who is also the longtime conductor and artistic director for the Greenville Chorale. “With the strong bonds formed through rehearsals and performances throughout the college years, life-long friendships and even marriages are forged. We’ve continued these biennial weekends all these years because the alumni are so enthusiastic about coming back and re-living their Singers experience. It is always a joyous, fun-filled, emotional and spiritual time for us all.”

The worship service at First Baptist Church will include “Ye shall have a song” from The Peaceable Kingdom by Randall Thompson; “Beati quorum via” by Charles V. Stanford; “Stand you on the mountain” by Daniel Gawthrop; Caritas” by Furman professor Mark Kilstofte; “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Ringwald; “How lovely are thy dwellings” from A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms; “Spaseniye” by Pavel Chesnokov; “Hark I hear the harps eternal” arranged by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw; “Sanctus” from Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living; “Come thou fount of every blessing” by Mack Wilberg; and “Father, give thy benediction” by David Schwoebel.

For more information, contact Dr. Bingham Vick at (864) 246-5763.