For their first performance of the year, the music department’s choral groups will perform a free concert for family and friends, Oct. 12. The event will run in Ground Zero from 7-8:15 p.m.

For weeks, the concert choir, Praisong ensemble and junior high choir has prepared for the several festivals they will attend throughout the semester. But before the festivals begin, new director Michael Ogdon will open with a “practice concert.”

“It’s a preparation for the festivals and it’s also an opportunity to begin the choir year,” Ogdon said. “In a selfish way, we get to perform for our family and friends first.”

Ogdon says he hopes the concert gives a sense of security to the students during the festivals as well as home concerts.

“When you put them in a different scenario, their confidence flies away, the fear of the unknown overwhelms the skill set they already have,” Ogdon said. “They get scared at moments and because of that, they don’t quite have the release the song supposed to give.”

Ogdon says a concert cannot be complete without leaving the audience with an understanding and impact from the music.

“The Bible says, ‘Sing to the Lord a new song,’ but in Hebrew, it actually translates to ‘make the songs that you sing fresh and new,'” Ogdon said. “I want the message to live longer than the concert, and for both the singer and the audience to remember the feeling and experience the Lord in a fresh way.”

In hopes of making a lasting impression, Ogdon says he chose a wide variety songs with which to enlighten the audience.

“All the songs have a personal connection which can be impactful to both singer and audience,” Ogdon said. “We should sing something in a way that it’s not just repeating, it’s saying what the Lord wants in the relationship.”

13-year choir veteran Alex Aleman, ’10, says she continues to enjoy every moment of the class, and looks forward to the concert.

“I love choir, and the choir just makes you feel like you’re in a family,” Aleman said. “I’m a bit nervous because we don’t have all the music down, but we will do good anyways, because we just go perform and have fun.”

As a foreign exchange student, Hoi Ting Wu, ’13, says she thinks the choir will perform to the best of their abilities.

“I’ve been in choir for four years, ever since my teacher in Hong Kong told us that anyone who can sing should join choir,” Wu said. “I think we will do our best at the concert because we can just enjoy our time and we are prepared.”

The band department, also under the direction of Ogdon, will not perform due to their busy schedule.

“They’ve been so busy, adding one thing would make them have four things in six days,” Ogdon said. “But, we will be performing the Christmas concert as a full music department.”

The first choir festival will be held Oct. 15 at Fresno Pacific University.