For an event which featured music from the soul, it was a visual in the very beginning which perhaps best described the whole performance. 

Just after the lights dimmed at the Sulphur Springs Civic Center on Sunday afternoon, the majority of the North East Texas Choral Society began to make their way slowly down the two aisles through the seating of the civic center. 

There was no “waving from the parade car.” No, as the singers made their way through the crowd, they searched and spotted friends and family. No one minded holding up the procession. It was time for smiles and hugs, a few blown kisses and a few mouthed, ‘I love you’s.’

Anyone who is aware of the North East Texas Choral Society (NETCS) knew that they were going to be treated to an amazing performance. So, this walk down through the crowd was really a celebration, a community celebration.

Most small towns in East Texas have something special to offer. Mineola takes great pride in the Nature Preserve (among other things); Winnsboro in their Autumn Trail Ride. When any community sees a local product go from conception to wildly-successful – it’s something to celebrate.

Wood County is well represented in the NETEXCS, with several singers from Winnsboro and Quitman. Founding director Carol Ruth Allen explained that the society draws from all the surrounding counties and a few folks from even further afield.  

Folks had every reason to celebrate before Sunday’s performance. For 26 years the society has been strengthening the community through the joy of song. Along the way they have imparted hope, faith, laughter and love.

Sunday’s performance was just another installment on those gifts, given through song by neighbors to neighbors.

As recounted by Allen, the society had its origins at a planning meeting for a Fourth of July Symphony on the Square almost 30 years ago. The director of the symphony stated, “We are going to need a chorus for our program this year.” 

Someone else at the table amplified that, “Ya, Carol, we are going to need a chorus.” 

What followed were two small ads placed in the local paper. The ads drew an astounding 102 people to auditions, of which 98 were accepted as members. 

“It was a first step,” Allen recalled, “but we had no music, no board of directors, no practice site, no money.”

Two weeks later, Allen was informed that then-governor Bush was coming to attend the reopening of the restored courthouse, and it was requested that the chorus perform. 

In short time, the society had a practice site – thanks to First Methodist Church of Sulphur Springs – a board, a 503c designation and a stage full of very talented local vocalists.

“God has had his hand on this society from the very start,” Allen said, “He has nurtured, sheltered and favored us.”

A choral society or chorus is a unique collection of musicians. As Allen explained, “God made just one instrument, the voice, and we sing!”

That singing is a combination of voices in four ranges: bass, tenor, alto and soprano. The key to a successful chorus, according to Allen, is the ability to perfectly match pitch.

As Allen is quick to point out, that should not be confused with ‘perfect pitch.’ Matching pitch is the ability of a singer to intone one’s voice with others, and the basis of the choral society is subsuming the individual to the greater sound of the group.    

Therein were two of the greatest surprises of the recent performance. The combination of the four ranges in the society’s initial numbers was stunningly powerful. It was unexpected to have such full sound fill the auditorium, especially when most of the singers were wearing reading glasses. 

The sheer power of the filled-out range of vocals initially masked the second great surprise. Once accustomed to the fullness of the sound, it was possible to listen to each group individually. To have such balance in a large number of singers (nearly 100) was a testament to precision, practice and selflessness.

There certainly is practice. Allen described how the art of choral singing has its history and basis in classic musical pieces. The scores are printed in octavos which are the arrangements of the pieces written in a standard musical format. The seasonal performances put on by the NETCS require that their members master usually 16-18 individual octavos.

“The society is quite a commitment…. We practice two hours each Monday night for 16 weeks per season,” Allen recounted. That time commitment normally drives the average age toward older singers, but every year the society does add younger singers as well.

Each season is preceded by auditions. Amazingly, the number of people coming to audition has remained remarkably consistent. 

Helping to steady the society during their performance are the unique talents of four regular accompanists. Allen described the accompanists as fabulously-gifted musicians. Ken Hanushek and Denise Stuart split the piano accompaniment, while Deanna Spraggins attends the clavinova keyboard, and Paul Clark mans the percussion. 

An additional dozen musicians form an instrumental ensemble.

The Celtic Christmas show recently staged also featured the talents of a guest bagpiper, Dr. Bryan Robinson. In addition to leading the procession to start the concert, Robinson performed a solo of ‘O Come, all ye Faithful’ which Allen then led the crowd in singing.

As the founding, and continuing, director of the society, Allen directed the musicians and guided the spectators (almost 1,400 in number) with grace, humor and ease.  

Her musical background goes back to, as a child, singing with her mother as they did dishes together. Music was a part of both sides of her family.

She said, “My mother’s side was all musical, and my father and his five brothers could simply pick up any instrument and play it.” 

A North Texas native, Allen and her husband, equine veterinarian Dr. John Allen, have been in the Sulphur Springs community for some 32 years. 

With the Christmas program behind them,  Allen will soon begin preparations for the spring performance. The spring concert is entitled, ‘I saw the Light’ and will be a sacred and gospel songfest. It is scheduled for Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5.

Allen noted that it will be only the fourth time that the society has done a dedicated show of gospel music in their 26 years.

“It promises to be something special – uplifting and exciting,” she remarked.

Reflecting on the group, Allen admitted that the society is indeed a family – committed to and supportive of one another. “We enjoy the shared joy which is song…. It is God’s provision.”