By Bailey Callaway
At the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital, a sea of patients sway in every direction, engulfed in a melody of 30 joining voices. Forming a circle around the room, the singers’ notes flow through the air as their words consume the crowd in music. As the patients sing back to the choir, the energy of each song ripples from person to person and crashes in waves of applause.
The title of the program is “Be like water”: the common ground that connects each song to the other and the inspiration for the Kalamazoo College Singers’ latest concert.
The Kalamazoo College students find themselves standing in an elementary-esque cafeteria filled with patients inside of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital.
Perhaps an odd experience for some, opportunities like this present themselves often for the choir. Kalamazoo College Singers director, Dr. Christopher J. Ludwa, has made it the choir’s mission to spread joy through song, this Spring, as a resonance of water.
To Ludwa, “It’s all music that’s been inspired by the idea of water, both literally and metaphorically.” The songs for this Spring range from Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams” and Etta James’ “At Last,” to lesser-known songs titled with names of bodies of water.
Students have resonated with one song in particular: “Stand in the River” by Moira Smiley.
Alexa L. Wonacott ’25 said, “I think I can echo the sentiment that a lot of people get emotional during the song. The story of the song is that life is challenging and has its troubles, but the analogy is that life is like a river and to come stand in it during life’s triumphs and challenges. Life flows like a river.”
Smiley’s “Stand in the River” was one among the six songs the choir sang to the patients of the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital on June 4, 2024, as their most recent addition to a compilation of community outreach concerts.
Months prior to their performance, Smiley herself video chatted with the choir to give insight to her perspective of the song and to listen to the choir’s rendition. This conversation is just one of the ways the choir has utilized Kalamazoo College’s promise of experiential learning.
The choir is comprised of students ranging all four years and representing diversity in race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. This mix of student experiences showcases opportunities for expression, collaboration, and growth within the K community. Their commonalities come through music, and according to junior Elena R. Pulliam, this creates a “welcoming” choir.
Director Christopher J. Ludwa is an Assistant Professor of Music at K and earned his Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts, from Indiana University. He is the heart and soul of the College Singers, developing the group’s mission over nearly the last decade.
Dr. Ludwa came to K with an admiration for the institution’s commitment to experiential learning. However, he had some qualms about the goals for the music department.
“It kind of felt like, gosh there is so much more we could be doing to get off the ivory tower hill and into the community,” Ludwa said.
Ludwa has devoted the choir’s mission to community outreach, coordinating outreach concerts and tours to sing to communities that do not have access to quality music.
“There are these populations that are not being served and if you can’t bring the people to you, then you go to the people,” he said.
In the past, the College Singers have toured to Traverse City, Chicago, Cleveland, and locally in Kalamazoo. The choir has visited correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers, multicultural elementary schools, government funded nursing homes, and now, the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital.
“Through concerts like these, we’re able to go through to communities that are really overlooked by musical performers,” said Noah W. Pyle ’25. “I never want to turn down an opportunity like this. It’s just a far more meaningful experience to go in and do these kinds of things.”
To Keegan S. Sweeney ’24, these concerts have served as a break from what students deem the “K bubble.” “It has impacted my view of music in that I’ve realized it’s not only an art but something that does its best work when it’s being shared with others—especially those who don’t typically get that type of interaction,” he said.
Last year, the choir visited the Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia, Mich. Upon entering the high security prison, students were told to dress unprovocative and were given modesty smocks otherwise.
“They were told ‘Oh, you can’t wear that,’ and one person was told ‘You can’t perform in that because those leggings are too tight,’” Ludwa said. “It was really odd because [female-identifying students] were like, ‘No we felt pretty respected by the inmates.”
He also spoke about his reservations involving the demographics of the choir. “There is a higher prevalence of white singers in the choir and so it is very easy to get into that mode of white saviorism,” he said. To minimize this notion, instead of focusing on the singers, the choir prioritizes the agency of those they perform to.
The choir’s mission to enact social change has manifested into the classroom, with Ludwa teaching the sophomore seminar course Social Justice Through Art.
To no surprise, Ludwa’s seminar places an emphasis on the student experience. He explained that as sophomores, students’ preconceptions are malleable, but they have grown enough confidence since their first year to embrace vulnerability.
“The artists become social justice warriors and the social justice warriors become artists,” he said.
Lucy E. Wallis ’25 took the seminar Winter Quarter of 2023. When asked about how the class impacted her, she said “I now really believe in the power of lateral learning. The ability to learn from your peers around you.”
“I believe so fervently that music is our birthright as humans,” Ludwa said regarding providing students opportunities to connect with others through music.
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