Once she came to IU for graduate school, she said, it was definitely something important to her that she wanted to fit into her schedule.
“I’ve been singing since I was three, so just any opportunity I can to sing,” Caruthers said. “I had to get in the class and I had to make room.”
At 8 p.m. Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Caruthers, a soprano in the AACE, performed in the last AACE concert of the school year along with her fellow ?ensemble members.
Among those who came for the concert and were waiting outside the Buskirk-Chumley Theater before it started, Keisha White said she traveled from northwest Indiana to hear her daughter perform in the ensemble.
“I’m looking forward to hearing the different voices as they culminate the African-American music and bringing forth that traditional type of music,” White said.
The concert commenced with the traditional Zimbabwean greeting song, “Sorida,” that featured nine ensemble soloists and drum ?accompaniment.
As the ensemble members came onto the stage, they each greeted each other before taking their places on the risers. Raymond Wise, the director of the AACE and a professor of practice in the department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, said they always incorporate an African song into their performances.
The ensemble then performed five spirituals including “This Little Light of Mine” and “Walk Together Children.” “Those songs became the basis of almost all American music as they evolved in different directions, so we always do a section of ?spirituals,” Wise said.
Following that were formally composed works by African-American composers and then a section of audience participation. Wise said the ensemble always does a section where they get the audience involved by singing, rocking and clapping to the music, which is important because the African aesthetic is call-and-response.
“With African-American music, it’s important that the audience always plays a part,” Wise said.
Wise said he was particularly excited for the selection of inspiration songs titled “We remember” that came next. Wise chose the pieces in remembrance of important events such as the Selma March, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech and the death of Steve Zegree, an IU choral faculty member who ?died in March.
“When you have loss, you kind of sometimes don’t want to do anything, but you’ve got to keep walking,” Wise said. “It’s that whole notion of walking on and continuing to do what we have to do in spite of the challenges we have to face.”
Caruthers was also asked to sing a solo in the last piece of the concert, “The Best Days of Your Life.” She said she was humbled and flattered when Wise asked her to do it.
“I can pull those experiences and share a little bit more personally with the audience when you sing a solo as opposed to singing with the choir,” Caruthers said.
Caruthers said she always gets nervous before she sings a solo and oftentimes closes her eyes when singing it in order to focus on the music.
“I’m always nervous, but I do it because I love it,” Caruthers said. “I was given that gift for a reason, and I shouldn’t be scared to the point where I don’t do it. I just try to be obedient when asked and give it 200 percent.”
She said she will enroll in the ensemble again if there aren’t any scheduling conflicts. She said she considers the ensemble to be an extended family, especially when they went on trips throughout the semester to perform.
“You’re on a bus or cars for a couple of hours and you really get to know the people you’re singing with, know their stories, their journeys and experiences,” Caruthers said. “It makes you appreciate them more, and most of the time it draws you closer.”
