Home Free singers to help Rosemount choir
Fundraiser aims to send students to Europe
Mankato-based Home Free will perform a concert in conjunction with the Rosemount High School choir at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at the school. The concert will raise funds to help pay for the choir’s European tour this spring. Photo submitted
by Tad Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers
Rosemount High School choir students are hoping Home Free can send them far from home this spring.
A concert by the Mankato-based, male a cappella group will be held Thursday, Feb. 16, in conjunction with the school’s choir to help raise money for a European tour in March.
The show will be a preview of the songs the choir will sing when it travels to Europe and features Home Free’s upbeat interpretations of songs by the likes of the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel.
Home Free member Matt Atwood said people should expect an all-around fantastic time.
“While we strive to achieve musical excellence within our show, we also put a lot of emphasis on that word ‘show,’ ” he said. “We guarantee that you’ll come away with a smile on your face.”
Home Free members, who have extensive theatrical and musical training, are touted as weaving comedy and audience participation into their music, which covers a mix of pop, jazz, classical and country.
“We are truly blessed to be able to do our art, and our passion, for a living,” Atwood said. “And every day brings something entirely new, so we never get tired of it.”
The group has performed for the Minnesota Vikings, Fortune 500 companies, Celebrity and Norwegian Cruise Lines and many more.
As part of the effort in Rosemount, Home Free members conducted a clinic at the school in January.
“Having the chance to see professionals in your field, whatever field that may be, while learning is an integral part of the development process,” Atwood said. “In our case, the kids are able to see that the skills and techniques they are learning in choir today are applicable to the performances of tomorrow.”
The group devotes time to educating and encouraging music in public schools through such workshops and concert fundraising. Its programs have raised tens of thousands of dollars for schools in Minnesota.
Kelsey Sijan, a sophomore choir member, said she liked learning how to beat box, a way to use one’s voice as an instrument, which is a prominent feature of many Home Free songs.
“They were amazing,” Sijan said of the Home Free quintet.
She said having the chance to work with Home Free allowed the students to better understand the type of music that they perform, which is much different than other forms of music they know.
“Every choir we sang for displayed a remarkable discipline, and love for singing,” Atwood said. “When we were told there’s a choir class every single hour of the school day, our jaws dropped.”
The choir will travel and perform in Geneva, Annecy, Grenoble, Provence and Barcelona.
Sijan said she is looking forward to seeing cathedrals and other sites, along with being able to sing for people of different nationalities.
She said they hope that “they see what American music is about and that even though we may speak a different language, singing is universal and a part of all of us.”
Tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling (651) 964-1534 or from a Team Europe choir member.
Tad Johnson is at editor.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
