WKU Chorale to perform in Spain

By Jessica Luna, WKU News

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Western Kentucky University Chorale will be traveling to Spain over Spring Break to perform in Madrid, Toledo, Valencia, and Barcelona, Spain under the direction of Dr. Paul Hondorp, in his 23rd year as Director of Choral Activities at WKU.

According to a release by WKU, this is the first international trip for WKU Choirs since the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, the WKU Chorale performed in Spain in 2015. The group also performed abroad in Italy in 2008 and Costa Rica in 2018.

For many of the students, this trip will be their first time abroad and, for some, their first time on an airplane.

The university says the ensemble will perform American and Spanish selections in designated churches during the trip. They will also be performing in La Sagrada Familia, the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world, the university says.

The experience is giving WKU Chorale students the opportunity to share their music with the people of Spain and to learn, perform and share the music of Spanish composers, often performing that music in the space for which it was composed.

Additionally, students will sing in Catalan, a Spanish indigenous language, as well as other languages.

“Sharing music with a foreign audience is always special, as music can speak more poignantly than words,” said Hondorp. “These students rehearse together four days a week, semester after semester, and are extremely excited to share this journey together. They will bring a message of beauty and peace from our department, university…and perhaps even our country.”

For more information about choirs at WKU, visit https://www.wku.edu/sing/.