COSHOCTON COMMUNITY CHOIR

Charles R. Snyder, music director and conductor

Dickie Rohrer Barrick, accompanist

Lee Bown, business manager

 

 

The Coshocton Community Choir was founded in the fall of 1971 by Charles R. Snyder.  The Coshocton area has had a long tradition of fine music, and as early as 1905 community-wide choral groups, largely drawn from local church choirs, were recruited to prepare performances of large works. Coshocton area  has had a long tradition of fine music, and as early as 1905 community-wide choral groups, largely drawn from local church choirs, were recruited to prepare performances of large works.

Snyder had returned to the community the year before and was convinced that the time was ripe for a more permanent choral group in Coshocton County - one that would specialize in sacred music. Snyder met with Coshocton City Schools Superintendent, Roy McKinley, who encouraged his efforts and pledged a rehearsal room at the Middle School for the new organization.  And the Coshocton Community Choir was born.

The first choir had thirty-five singers, and the first concert, the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah, was presented at Grace United Methodist Church that December.  A harpsichord was built for the performance by conductor Snyder and tenor Ed Chu — the only tenor at the time!

At first, attempts to schedule spring concerts to follow Christmas presentations of Messiah were unsuccessful.  A major rebirth occurred in the fall of 1976.  Presbyterian Church organist, Helen Wright, assumed the duties of coordinator, and the following spring parts II and III of Messiah were presented. 

Messiah, with local soloists and a few instrumentalists - supplemented by hired string players - continued to be the musical fare until the spring of 1978.  The difficulty in securing string players caused Snyder to change course, and he turned to the a cappella tradition he had experienced at Capital University.

Early concerts were held at Grace Church, St. John’s United Church of Christ and Emmanuel Lutheran Church.  All were the right size for the 45-voice choir and the audiences at that point in the choir’s history.  Later, as the membership began to grow, and with it the size of the audiences, performances were moved to The Presbyterian Church where a new tracker organ and a large renovated chancel made continued choir and audience growth possible.

The 1981-1982 and 1982-1983 seasons saw major changes in the choir.  Membership suddenly mushroomed to 70 and it became apparent that more organization was needed.  Officers were elected for the first time, section leaders were appointed, a logo was commissioned and the group began to work toward the goal of becoming self-supporting.  Paul Christiansen’s Concordia Choir was sponsored in a local concert, and Columbus composer Garry A. Cornell was commissioned to write an anthem for the choir’s new Festival Te Deum Series.  The composition, In Glad Adoration, was premiered by the choir with composer Cornell conducting 

Concerts were moved from churches to public auditoriums — first the Triple Locks Center, and then Coshocton High’s McKinley Auditorium.  Tickets were sold to help underwrite expenses, and the audiences tripled 

By 1984 choir membership had grown to 100! Auditions to fill openings were first held in 1985.  Major gifts from the Coshocton Foundation, Edward and Frances Montgomery and Mr. and Mrs. Seward Schooler helped enable the choir to purchase robes, risers and an acoustical shell prior to the 1984 Christmas concerts 

In addition to singing two major concert programs each year, the choir appears occasionally at community celebrations.  A new dimension in sound was experienced in the springs of 1987 and 1988 when the choir joined the Southeastern Ohio Symphony Orchestra for combined concerts in Coshocton.  An orchestrated setting of In Glad Adoration was premiered at the 1988 event.  The choir has also sung in Mt. Gilead, Somerset, Grove City, and has performed for two conferences of the Ohio Choral Directors Association. For four summers the choir sang on the concert series at Lakeside, on Lake Erie.

In April, 1985, the choir was incorporated as a non-profit organization with the help of choir friend, attorney Harold E. Hunt.

Since its founding, more than seven hundred singers have sung with the choir, which has become known for its renditions of sacred a cappella literature.  The singers come from all backgrounds, vocations and walks of life - literally from every segment of the community.  Their zeal and enthusiasm on behalf of the choir attest to the fine results which can be generated when a group of people come together for a common cause - in this case, music.  They are indeed fulfilling the dream Snyder had for the group, which is expressed in its motto:  to worship God through song, and to inspire others to undertake a similar service.