Two years ago, Carol Krueger, assistant professor of music, started the A Capella Choir and Chamber Singers “Boot Camp” program, which is held at the beginning of each semester.

“The Boot Camp is designed to give us an intensive time period to work on the music as well as to build up as a team because the choir is only as good as its weakest member,” Krueger said. “It allows us to figure out, first of all, who we are, what are the strengths that we bring, and what weaknesses we bring, and then we get to start to work on building on our weaknesses.”

He Li, sophomore education major, is a transfer student in her first semester at Emporia State. She said that it offered her an opportunity to socialize.

Kenji Bolden, senior music education major, is also a transfer student.

“I came here because the director, Dr. K, was in my last school,” Bolden said. “So I transferred here from Florida. She is nationally renowned because of her methods and teaching practices. I wanted to learn more. So I got my little car and then came out here.”

In October and December, the A Cappella Choir will have two major concerts, and in between, they have plans to fundraise for a group trip.

“The trip is to kind of travel as a group, and you get to know each other better when you are on a trip. It is amazing to sing in some places,” said Eric Anderson, junior pre-med biology major. Anderson has been in the A Capella group for two years. “You get to sing in New York City and Washington, D.C. It is something really great.”

Yoshiko Shrestha, junior music major, is in her third semester with the choir.

“We can exchange the experience with all the people in other regions. Our choir is actually a great place to learn music. You can show the power of music where you are,” Shrestha said.

Though there are specific requirements for the singers’ ranges, quality of voices, sight reading, and hearing, among other skills, this choir is open to not only the university students, but also welcomes all people.

“I’d like to say probably less than a half people are actually music majors,” Anderson said. “I probably learn more in choir than I did in a majority of my genetic classes. It is just because it requires a lot of critical thinking.”

The choir has continued to grow in numbers already this semester.

“We are going to end up with probably about 55 singers, which is the biggest it has been in a long time,” Krueger said.