Make Music with Chatham’s Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles
Students in Chatham’s vocal ensemble sing at the University’s 2023 Candlelight celebration. (Kyle Ferreira)
Before Ella Sheffer ’27 came to Chatham University, she never improvised a single note, only playing what was on the sheet music in front of her.
That changed when she joined Chatham’s jazz ensemble.
“It was a little bit daunting at first, because you don’t want to mess up in front of everyone,” said Sheffer, a classically trained violinist. “But everyone in the ensemble is very welcoming. It’s super fun to learn.” She later added: “I feel like I’ve grown as a musician.”
The jazz ensemble, along with the concert band, started at Chatham two years ago when Adam Lee, the band director, was hired out of the Afro-American Music Institute in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, where he teaches wind instruments.
“In the beginning, it was pretty small,” said Lee. “We had a small core of students, and we’ve grown consistently every year. We started with a handful of students in the jazz ensemble … and four or five students in concert band. Every year, that number has gotten bigger. Last year, we had 17 in the ensemble and nine in the concert band.”
The jazz group’s small size and unconventional instruments, such as Sheffer’s violin, led Lee to think of new opportunities for learning music as a band, such as a music arranging course, where students could arrange a piece of music specifically designed for their band.
“We craft our sheet music ourselves,” said Lee. “One of things I’ve been doing is asking students, ‘What music do you want to do?’ Then, I either arrange the music myself or have the students arrange it. It’s an opportunity for students to be more involved in the decision-making of what music they’ll be performing.”
Lee said he’s been positively surprised at how well the arrangements come together. In the spring, the concert band included players on trumpet, trombone, clarinet, flute, and vibraphone, the latter of which was played by Owen Duthoy ’26, who’s also done a couple of arrangements for the band.
“The fun part of arranging is trying to figure out how to work in these instruments,” said Duthoy, who’s been with the band since it started. “Last semester, we had a violin, viola, and mandolin in the jazz band. Figuring out how to arrange those instruments into jazz is really challenging.”
But, Lee emphasized that there was no need to be a virtuoso musician to join the bands at Chatham, saying he believes music making is something to which everyone has access.
“Not everybody is a music major,” Lee said. “We are open and excited to have people with all musical backgrounds, whether they’re experienced and dedicated musicians, or they just played high school marching band.”
Stacey Davern, the choral director at Chatham, expressed a similar sentiment.
“My singers are a group of fun people,” said Davern, who’s been at Chatham for 17 years. “We have a good time. They just enjoy singing and want to extend their love of singing throughout their lifetime.”
“Especially when you make music in a choral setting with other singers, and you create chord structure and come together in unity on the words and sounds—it can be a really powerful experience,” she said.
In the fall semester, the choir performs at campus events like Cabaret and Candlelight, a winter holiday tradition at Chatham going back decades. Spring concerts feature more contemporary tunes, like past selections “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails or “Free Ride” by the Edgar Winter Group. Last year, they sang a medley from the movie “Pitch Perfect.”
Additionally, the choral ensemble performs with professional bands, such as River City Brass Band. This year, they’ll sing at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.
“This is such a grand space,” Davern said. “It’s that big, grand theater with three tiers of balcony seats. For the students, I think it feels very professional and accomplished.”
With a little more than 20 members heading into the fall semester, Davern said she wants to see more members join, especially those who can sing bass and tenor.
Davern encouraged anyone who wants to enjoy singing with others to join the group. “My goal each semester is to make it a worthwhile, decompressing, music-making journey, where they leave feeling like they’ve done something good with their time and created something beautiful.”
To sign up or learn more about Chatham's choir, email Choral Director Stacey Davern. For information about playing in jazz or concert band, email Band Director Adam Lee.