061224_GYS_2024_WEB

40 2O24–2O2 5 GU I D E to Y E L LOW S P R I NG S How do you measure 10 years? Riffing on a similar lyric from the musical “Rent,” Catherine Roma mused on this question as she looked back at helming the World House Choir, which celebrated its 10th anniversary with a series of concerts in late 2023. “Ten years went so fast,” Roma told the News last year. “Nina Simone said, ‘It’s an art- ist’s duty to reflect the times in which we live.’ I hope we’ve A DECADE OF COMMUNITY SONG By LAUREN 'CHUCK' SHOWS ▲ In celebration of the group’s tenth year in song and harmony, the World House Choir presented “Standing On the Side of Love and Justice” in performance Sept. 2023 in the Foundry Theater. Shown above, Cathy Roma, center, directed a rehearsal of the World House Choir in the early days of the choir’s lifetime, April 2014. been doing that.” The World House Choir is a multicultural and inter - generational musical group whose decade-long repertoire has embraced songs that put forward messages of unity and community, solidarity and social justice. The choir’s first iteration performed in 2023, when Roma and then-First Presby - terian Church Pastor Derrick Weston led 40 singers at the church that September. It wasn’t until the follow - ing year, however, that the musical group performed at the Coretta Scott King Center as the World House Choir — a name that references an essay penned by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in which he urges that everyone on earth learn to live peacefully together in a “world house.” Since then, the World House Choir has performed more than 140 concerts in Yellow Springs, surrounding towns and cities, including Dayton, Cincinnati and Colum - bus, in churches, auditoriums and prisons. Its membership — which has grown beyond 100 singers — comprises sing- ers from the village and from other nearby communities in Greene, Clark and Montgom- ery Counties. Measuring 10 years of music in terms of the numbers of performances and members is a fairly simple metric. More complex, Roma said, is quan- tifying the ever-strengthening bonds of community that have been forged in the choir itself — but also the bonds that the choir has sought to create with its audiences and their com- munities. “The way I like to think of it is that it’s the music that draws us together,” Roma said. “People want to express themselves; people want to speak. They want to sing, they want to gather together to make a difference. So it's the P H O T O : S U Z A N N E S Z E M P R U C H Certified PersonalTrainer 937 . 760 . 0555 at 360 ° Studio, 213XeniaAvenue above theWinds Jaimie Wilke LEARN: • Proper Stretching • Strengthening • Alignment • Balance • Functional Exercise • And FUN ! Ye Olde Trail Tavern O hiO ’ s O ldest t avern s ince 1827 228 XENIA AVE. 937-767-7448 CALZONES • BREAD ST ICKS HAND-TOSSED AND THIN CRUST PIZZA • SALADS BENT I NO’S BE O S Pizza o f Y e l l o w S p r i n g s 107½ Xenia Ave. Yellow Springs 937-767-2500 DINE-IN, DELIVERY & CARRY OUT PASTA• GYROS • WINGS • HOAGIES