A capitol performance

Walk into the Castor Street entrance of the First Baptist Church in Dexter on a Monday afternoon and there might be the faint sound of voices floating through the air. Head straight to the staircase and the voices grow louder, until it's obvious the sound is that of children singing.

But the sound isn't from a church singing group, it's from the Heartland Children's Choir, a private and select performance-oriented choral group that draws its members from six Bootheel communities as geographically varied as Sikeston and Kennett. This week, the Children's Choir is rehearsing for a very special performance it will give Tuesday at noon: a 35-40 minute set in the rotunda of the capitol building in Jefferson City. A group of 36 of the children will be performing.

Choir Director Maria Chamberlain said she and the children are looking forward to performing in the seat of Missouri's government -- a performance the likes of which the choir, which has only been in existence since last September, has never tried.

In its time performing, the choir has sang at places like the Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden and Old St. Vincent's in Cape Girardeau, as well as some concerts in Dexter. It was one of those performances, the Malden performance, that landed the choir a gig at the capitol.

"There were several area guests there, including Representatives Rob Mayer and Otto Bean," said Chamberlain. "They heard us sing, and I guess were very impressed with what they heard. So we are actually going at the invitation of Otto Bean and Rob Mayer."

Chamberlain said she and the representatives are also attempting to see if the choir can sing on the floor of the Missouri House of Representatives. However, the plan may not work, since the performance is near the end of the legislative session and the House may be busy that day.

They will be performing a varied selection of songs, some of them numbers which the choir already had in its repertoire from its Broadway Revue in late March. There will also be patriotic pieces, like a medley of "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner," as well as other varied numbers like "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing."

Performing in the capitol rotunda will be very different from what the Children's Choir is used to, said Chamberlain. "It will be a very different kind of sound, because of course we won't have any sound system or microphone," said Chamberlain. "I'm sure it will feel a lot different for the kids. With the kind of structure it is I'm sure there will be a lot of echo reverberating in there."

There will be a piano in the rotunda to accompany the group, but if they get to sing on the House floor, the performance will be a capella. But learning to adapt quickly to new situations is all part of the lessons learned in the Children's Choir, said Chamberlain.

"I think they're really learning some good things about performance," Chamberlain said. "We do what we have to do to perform in the best way we can under the circumstances. I think that's good experience for children, not just in music, but in life."

Chamberlain said she's not worried about the performance. "They're excellent students," she said. "They catch on quickly."

In addition to the performance, the choir will get a chance to tour the capitol, which will be a great experience for the many who have never been there, she said.

"They're all really excited about it," said Chamberlain. "Now they can have a visual concept to those things they learn in class."

In addition, the performance may have the added effect of allowing the choir to gain more chances to represent the region in places away from southeast Missouri.

"Any time you perform in a setting like this, you have people listening and hearing you," Chamberlain said. "And they have events in their sphere of influence that would open an opportunity for us to sing at another time."

Matt Sanders may be reached via email at msanders@dailystatesman.com3