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Monday, January 28, 2008
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Tara Ritter gives choir a hometown voice EVERYDAY PEOPLE Entertainment Editor In a choir with 73 people, you'd think a lone singer could slack off every now and then. But that's not the case. In the St. Olaf Choir, every voice counts - especially when there's almost no instrumental accompaniment, as was the case at Saturday's concert at Tornstrom Auditorium.
"It's completely up to the choir to keep the song in tune," said alto Tara Ritter of the a cappella-style concert. "You can't rely on the piano for pitch. Dr. (Anton) Armstrong makes sure everyone can sing every song in tune. A couple people singing incorrectly could throw off the entire choir."
Every singer is important to get that cohesive sound that marks a choir at its best. Still, Ritter was a special voice in Saturday's show because she is the only member from the Brainerd lakes area.
The 2006 Brainerd High School graduate is a sophomore at St. Olaf. Like about one-third of the choir, she is not majoring in music. She's focusing on dance and environmental studies.
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Tara Ritter sang in the alto section Saturday during the St. Olaf Choir's concert at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd. Ritter, a 2006 Brainerd High School graduate, is the choir's only Brainerd lakes area native.
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Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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"I kind of stumbled upon environmental studies," Ritter said. "I took a class in it last year because my schedule couldn't fit any other classes. I think it's an important issue in society today. People have to become environmentally minded if we want to maintain our current lifestyle. I'm interested in sustainability - recycling, turning off the lights, things like that."
Ritter would like to someday work in that field, but dance - which she discovered through Baxter's Just for Kix program - and music likely will be lifelong hobbies. Like many BHS graduates, Ritter learned how to sing under Michael Smith, retired teacher.
Comparing Smith and Armstrong, Ritter said, "They're actually somewhat similar. Mr. Smith got his degree at St. Olaf and Dr. Armstrong went to St. Olaf, so they learned from the same professors. Both are strict conductors, but they both can loosen up from time to time. They can crack a joke.
Age: 19.
City: Northfield.
High school: Brainerd, 2006.
College: Sophomore at St. Olaf.
Favorite band: Stars.
What's the last album you listened to? "In a Safe Place" by The Album Leaf.
What's the best concert you've been to? Tilly and the Wall, September 2007 at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.
Favorite TV show: "Arrested Development."
Favorite movie: "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou."
Favorite book: "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.
What do you do in your spare time? "I like to read for fun - not school textbooks. With my friends, we sit around playing video games and watching TV."
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"Their personalities are different, though. Dr. Armstrong lets us know every day it's a privilege to be in this choir. The first day he said we all had lucky auditions. He's a very humbling man. Mr. Smith, probably because it was a high school choir, always was a little more praising."
One might think that being a member of the freshmen women's choir last year would help Ritter make immediate friends. But that 200-member choir was so big that she didn't even know all her colleagues' names. In the St. Olaf Choir, however, she knows everyone's face and first name. The group will get more bonding time as they embark on a Western U.S. tour this week.
This East Gull Lake native, the daughter of Rick and Alice Ritter, is settling into the college lifestyle on the small Northfield campus south of the Twin Cities.
"The first year I was really homesick and considered transferring," Ritter said. "St. Olaf is a great school, but it's very sudden, especially if you're close to your family, to pick up and move. It definitely gets better. I'm having fun. You make friends. It just takes awhile to develop a comfort level."
And one thing reminds her that she hasn't moved all that far from home - the weather.
"I think it's about the same here," she said. "It's pretty cold everywhere in Minnesota."
JOHN HANSEN may be reached at john.hansen@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5863.
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