The Colleton Civic Center hosted Servire on Friday, February 23rd. The five-member group spent the week in Colleton County visiting schools, practicing, and participating in a community service project. The crowd in excess of 250 patrons were treated to an acapella concert of classical and contemporary music. The audience was also treated to both the Colleton Prep and Colleton County High School Chorus joining the group onstage to perform the finale.
Christopher Short, the Executive Director for Servire, describes Servire as a professional ensemble. He explains, “It’s the flagship project of chamber voices for change. We perform with anywhere from six to twelve voices, travel around the southeast and partner with local nonprofits to provide a benefit concert for fundraising for them. We spread their mission and needs around the community through education and community outreach.”
Servire also invited the students they work with and audience members sometimes to join in on a service project benefiting a local organization. Short adds, “The hope is that we can use the power of music to create these lasting relationships in the community, long after we’re gone from this project.”
Drew Whitlow, the artistic director explains the program, “We typically try to offer a very, varied program. Patrons heard some of their bread and butter classical music and early Renaissance music, but also music from the Beatles. We just really liked to make the concert accessible for all audiences.”
One of the highlights of their stay in Colleton County was going into a couple of local schools to present education workshops and teaching them a couple of pieces to sing with Servire on the concert Friday night.
The community project for the week was building a wheelchair ramp at a local home. The concert which was free to enter also accepted donations to Faith Builders and Mission Serve. The event raised 2,800 dollars which is enough to build two more ramps.
Short thanked everyone for coming out to the concert and looks forward to returning in the future, “I think one of our favorite things is just to form relationships with people in the community.
