The Fall concert which is on October 9, will be the first concert of the year, and so it will be a chance for Choir students and teachers to see how the changes that have been made this year will affect the dynamic of the concert. In previous years, freshman choir members were split into two choirs, Counterpoints Men and Counterpoints Women. However, this year, the two choirs for freshman are instead Counterpoints and Expressions. Counterpoints will be for lower toned voices and Expressions for higher toned voices. This switch happened, according to Director of Choirs Katherine Kouns, for both practical and philosophical reasons. At the age that the freshman choir members are, Kouns said, it made more sense to split them up because their voices are still developing, and so members require more individualized instruction.

Kouns said, “A lot of the boys are just getting through the end of a voice change, some of them are still in the process of a voice change, and because of that they can get a little self-conscious at that age, if their voice cracks or something like that, especially in front of girls.”

Another reason for the split is that the numbers of freshmen enrolled in choir have increased over past years, and this year there are approximately 55 boys and 150 girls, according to Kouns. Splitting the choirs allowed them to put them into different periods so that all three choir teachers (Kouns, Samuel Chenoweth, and Kyle Barker) could be available to advise Expressions.

On a philosophical note, Kouns also said that the name had been changed to represent the increasing diversity in students expressions of themselves.

Kouns said, “We have more and more students that are gender neutral, or going through different transitions, or just have different things that their lifestyle represents and it’s a little bit harder to have an ensemble that is called Counterpoints Men or Counterpoints Women, and so having a gender-neutral name is a little bit easier, and that way wherever the students happen to fit in, it’s easier to get them there.”

Students have had mixed reactions to the change in the names. Mikayla Phillips, New Edition member and sophomore, said “I think that a lot of people find the idea of Expressions a little ridiculous, but I think it kind of sets the freshman girls apart a little bit so that they have less of that stereotype. When I was in counterpoints at least, people had sometimes negative reactions to me telling them that I’m in counterpoints, and so I think it sets the girls apart a little bit.”