Whether it’s a packed performance hall or a hushed sanctuary, members of the Maryville College Concert Choir step onto the stage with a particular awareness — that for someone listening, the music they sing may be a graceful introduction … or a poetic valediction.

“It is a truly humbling, eye-opening experience to see how the music we make impacts those who hear it,” said Rebecca Johnson ’26, one of 40 choir members preparing to embark on the ensemble’s annual spring tour. “We are often reminded in rehearsal and before performances that, when we sing a song, some people may be hearing it for the first time while others may be hearing it for the last time.”

That perspective sits at the heart of What Dreams May Come, the Maryville College Choir’s 2026 Spring Tour program inspired by the text of Eric Whitacre’s ‘Sleep,— a reflective, emotionally rich exploration of hope, longing, sorrow and renewal that will carry the choir across Tennessee in the weeks ahead.

For the students who carry this music from city to city, the tour is as formative as it is performative. Over the past four years, Johnson has transformed from a nervous first-year singer to a tour veteran whose heart is filled with emotion at the realization that her time in the ensemble is approaching its end.

“When I was preparing to go on my very first choir tour, I was honestly a bit nervous,” Johnson recalled. “Ultimately, my first choir tour ended up impacting me more than I had ever expected it would.”

What she discovered, she said, was that the choir is “more than a group of people merely making music in the same space.”

“When we perform for an audience, whether it be high schoolers, elderly individuals, families, church congregations, etc., we have the opportunity to use our music to inspire, advocate, inform, and even change ourselves internally,” said Johnson, who also sings in Off Kilter and the Lassies, two of three smaller ensembles within the choir (the other being the Lads).

That sense of shared purpose and deep connection is also evident from the perspective of those guiding the ensemble, including collaborative pianist Chase Hatmaker ’14 and Dr. Jennifer Olander Anderson ’05, director of the Lads and collaborative pianist for the Lassies. For Choral Assistant Jacob Parauka, who joined the MC faculty in August 2024, last spring’s tour was his first, and from the outset, it was evident how special it is for all involved.

“What impresses me is the spirit of community and cooperation our students share over the course of the trip,” Parauka said. “Each student contributes so much personal effort in making the tour flow properly, and witnessing their fellowship and growth as people is one of the many things that make my job worthwhile.”

As the choir prepares to travel once more, they do so with gratitude — for the host churches that open their doors, for the communities that listen, and for the moments of connection that only music can create.

Because in those moments — fleeting, luminous and deeply human — dreams are not only imagined — they’re heard, and the majesty of the Maryville College Concert Choir stands as the bedrock upon which those dreams are shaped, sustained and shared, echoing far beyond the final note.

“The choir represents Maryville College as a place where students are encouraged to care deeply, work hard, and support each other,” said Stacey Wilner, senior lecturer of music and director of choral activities at Maryville College.

2026 Spring Choir Tour Schedule

  • Sunday, February 22 | 4 p.m.: Lake Hills Presbyterian Church, 3805 Maloney Road, Knoxville
  • Tuesday, March 10 | 12:30 p.m.: Harold and Jean Lambert Recital Hall, Clayton Center for the Arts on the Maryville College campus (Send-Off Concert)
  • Wednesday, March 11 | 7 p.m.: Grace Episcopal Church, 20 Belvoir Ave., Chattanooga
  • Thursday, March 12 | 7 p.m.: Second Presbyterian Church, 3511 Belmont Blvd., Nashville
  • Friday, March 13 | 7 p.m.: First Presbyterian Church, 213 Main St., Clarksville
  • Sunday, March 15 | 10:30 a.m.: Worship Service, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 500 N. Roan St., Johnson City
  • Sunday, March 15 | 7 p.m. (CST): Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 812 Hopewell St., Dandridge
  • Tuesday, March 24 | 7:00 p.m.: Maryville College Homecoming Concert, Nutt Theatre, Clayton Center for the Arts (Admission: $12.50)
  • Sunday, April 26 | 4:00 p.m.: New Providence Presbyterian Church, 703 W. Broadway Ave., Maryville

Maryville College is a nationally ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges, located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville. Maryville College offers more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs, and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”

Karen Eldridge, Executive Director of Communications: karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu.

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