By Jen Clay
A&E Assistant
Senior Heather Horton has extra reason to look forward to the concert choir’s fall performance on Tuesday. Horton serves as this year’s choir president. But if she looks relaxed, it’s because she’s done it before.
“This is my second year as president of the choir,” she said.
Serving her fellow singers is nothing new to her; Horten has held an office in the choir every semester since her freshman year.
As a choir veteran, Horton sees a few differences in this concert’s repertoire.
“In the past we’ve done holy, sacred works. This concert is more audience accessible,” she said. During the spring the choir performed a different Brahms’ piece, a selection Horton remembered as a challenge. “We did it full symphony, as hard as you can get. It’s like running the Boston Marathon,” she said.
Double-majoring in vocal performance and music history, Horton plans to graduate in April with “160 units.” (She is currently Pepperdine’s lone music history major.) Horton’s duties as choir president include coordinating publicity, ordering the choir dresses and tuxedoes, and perhaps most importantly, “serving as an example.”
“There’s actually a lot of business we have to do,” she said. In addition to her academic and concert choir commitments, Horton has performed in two of Pepperdine’s opera productions. She played the Third Lady in “The Magic Flute” (2001) and Bertha, the maid, in “The Barber of Seville” (2002).
As a mezzo-soprano, Horton admitted to harboring just a little “soprano envy,” but it’s all in good fun.
“Mezzos are always witches or dressed up as prepubescent boys,” she joked.
Kidding aside, Horton said she sees the choir in a selfless light. “The choir is one of those things where you have to give it up for the group. I think everybody in choir gives something to everybody else.”
In the future, Horton would like to get involved with arts administration and encourage others in their artistic endeavors, much like concert choir director Mr. Pullen. “More than any other faculty member that I have ever met, he is the most encouraging. He is the driving force behind this music department. His vision drives the music,” she said. Until it’s her turn to nurture others artistically, she’s proud to be an integral part of Pepperdine’s concert choir. “I think the choir is one of the undiscovered treasures on campus,” she said.
September 25, 2003