“Music is an International Language”

The New Carlisle Area Community Chorus officially began its thirty-first season this week with the first rehearsals of the new year. With multiple performances scheduled in New Carlisle and beyond, the group intends to provide the city with quality live entertainment as well as establishing a sense of community by embracing the small-town atmosphere.

Ball said he recognizes the practices that contribute to a successful community ensemble, and he strives to provide both his singers and audience with a variety of genres that appeal to almost everyone.

While the chorus is still accepting new members this month, Ball said he currently has 42 singers registered to perform this year. Chorus members begin a consistent rehearsal schedule this week, meeting the first three Mondays of each month as they prepare for a loaded 2016 season. Ball said the chorus was one of hundreds of hopeful groups last weekend that auditioned to perform at a Dayton Dragons game this summer, as they have done for the past nine out of ten years. Also scheduled for this season are performances at the Heritage of Flight Festival, North Hampton Street Fair, several nursing homes, and their traditional Christmas Concert.

Ball said the group’s most anticipated 2016 performance will be held on June 12 at the First United Methodist Church in New Carlisle as they host a Gospel Jamboree called “Turn on Your Radio.” He said this will be one of their most significant acts because it will serve as a sort of “homecoming” show, created specifically for and by the folks of New Carlisle.

This is Ball’s fourth year leading the chorus, and he credits Jim Gastineau with leading him toward the position. Also acting as Honey Creek Presbyterian’s Music Director, Ball said Gastineau told him to look into the position vacated by Becky Funderburg, and after one audition and trial rehearsal, Ball was offered the job.

He said longtime New Carlisle resident Bill Berry created the community chorus in the mid-1980s and successfully directed the ensemble for more than ten years. Admitting that Berry is “a tough act to follow” in any capacity, Ball said he often thinks about all the reasons that make a such a chorus beneficial to the community in today’s world.

“The sense of community is a big deal for us,” said Ball. “I want to be a part of bringing the community together,” said Chorus Director Taylor Ball. “Music is an international language—I think we can relate to everyone in the community and really help bring people together,” he added.

Ball said he grew up in a small Michigan town very similar to New Carlisle, lamenting the loss of the sense of community he has seen disappear more and more each year, noting that he hopes the chorus will help preserve the loyalties found among small-town residents.

He thanked the nine local businesses that act as sponsors for the chorus, adding that the group is still accepting new sponsorships. New Carlisle and Medway businesses such as Comfort and Joy, Copey’s Butcher Shop, World Threads, and others have agreed to display the chorus’ flyers in their stores as well as put out coin donation jars, as Ball said that every little bit helps.

To join the chorus, visit their website at www.ncacchorus.com and click on the ‘Join the Chorus’ tab, or walk in to performances which are held the first three Mondays of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Honey Creek Presbyterian Church.