Crestview mayor gauges interest in community chorus

CRESTVIEW — Mayor J.B. Whitten held an organizational meeting last week for anyone interested starting a community chorus.

The chorus is part of Whitten’s initiative to bring cultural activities to Crestview.

“We already have a community band and I have seen the interest in that. That told me there was a need for entertainment in the city,” Whitten said. “I got to thinking about what we could add to get people to get out and about.”

About 20 people showed up for the meeting at Warriors Hall to ask questions, offer suggestions and hear more about the chorus.

Many of the questions were directed to Cecile Lindegren, a vocal music instructor and one of the founders of the Fort Walton Beach Community Chorus. Lindegren is in charge of organizing and coordinating Crestview’s new community chorus.

“This is not, I hope, going to be a one-woman show,” Lindegren said. “I would like this to be a community effort and be able to bring in other directors. Perhaps we could have performances with the North Okaloosa Community Band.”

Lindegren said having a band and chorus that can work together would be a good thing. She said the age range for the chorus would probably be middle-school-age and up.

It has not yet been decided whether fees will be involved. Whitten said he'd like it to be free, but couldn't say for sure that there wouldn't be some kind of fee at some point.

Lindegren was thankful for the turnout, but said she would like to see more people get involved.

“We all have a sense of an inner need for soothing the soul, and music has a way of doing that,” Lindegren said. “We all have a built-in instrument. We just need to learn to use it and share with others. It’s nice to work together as a community in that way.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview mayor gauges interest in community chorus