Illustration by Drew Buckmaster
Article by Mia Takahashi
NEWBERG, Ore. – In a world where it is easy to feel alone, George Fox University’s (GFU) Chehalem Chorus, before Spring 2025 also known as Master Chorus, is a place where people of all generations and walks of life gather once a week to sing together.
GFU’s current choral director, Danielle Warner, moved from Nebraska to Oregon, leaving behind her participation in a beloved community choir that met once a week.
Warner sees the importance of community, especially for college students. “College can be kind of isolating for that 18-22 year old population, and people might not even know it,” said Warner.
Seeing community as important for college students and missing community choir, Warner began offering Master Chorus year-round, when previously it had been offered only in the spring.
Although the group is for GFU students, other members of the community are also welcome. The group currently includes people aged anywhere from 18 to 80, a change in demographic from when the choir was mostly aged above 60, with only a few college student participants.
As a result, many members of the chorus have journeyed through different aspects of life together, including new jobs, graduations and retirement. The Chehalem Chorus includes members who have sung longer than some students have been alive.
Warner has been inspired in being witness to a group of people who have been through a diverse range of adversity. “There isn’t a single person in there that hasn’t had tremendous hardship or tremendous joy,” Warner said.
One difference between Chehalem Chorus and Concert Choir is that students may easily join Concert Choir without prior singing experience. Chehalem Chorus’ members have more experience and practice singing throughout their lives while Concert Choir starts from scratch every year. This means that the Chehalem Choir can take on a more complex repertoire.
Although members of Chehalem Chorus are not required to have previous singing experience, members who have never sung before must be willing to put in extra work to keep up with the groups’ more rigorous structure.
Over the years, Chehalem Chorus has often sung alongside Concert Choir for performances as a symphony to add volume and to support collegiate students in a more demanding repertoire.
Recently, the chorus has grown in size and scope, performing alone for the first time in 2025 and continuing this streak with their most recent choral concert on Oct. 24. Despite the new independence of Chehalem Chorus, Warner hopes for continued performances shared between the chorus and Concert Choir.
With their growth, Warner hopes to better develop a system for raising awareness of the choir. “I want to serve as many people and have as many people singing–Fox, community, beyond–as possible, while doing that at a high level,” said Warner.
Warner feels Chehalem Chorus is a place for students to be inspired by singing with people from many different walks of life. Some members of the Chehalem Chorus drive all the way from Vancouver, Wash., while others are students who dedicate lots of time to singing in three choirs, Chehalem Chorus, Concert Choir and Chamber, GFU’s group of select singers.
For interested students, Chehalem Chorus meets once a week for about two hours and can be taken for an upper-division credit.
