The Envoy

Students will get to sing along with the Peace of Heart Choir in a half dozen languages during their recital inside Hunter College’s Ida K. Lang Recital Hall on May 31.

The “Why We Sing” benefit concert, directed by Robert René Galván, is being held to raise money for the choir, who sing for free all over the city. 

Performing in all five boroughs since 2001, the choir performs songs in many languages, including Swahili, Xhosa, Spanish, Hindi and many more. Their rehearsals are said to be transcendent for the choir members, who also learn various singing techniques like breath control and harmonizing in addition to their repertoire.

“We sing a variety of things: world music, traditional music, pop tunes and some classical types,” said Robert Hornsby, a member of the choir. 

“The choir is multiethnic and we sing in dozens of languages every season. This year our choir is singing a Papua New Guinean folk song from the Kamoro tribe, and we have members who represent all those cultures as well.” 

The set list will also include a Hindi song titled “My Sweetheart,” a Spanish folk song about freedom called “The Colors” and a Xhosa protest song known as “What Have We Done.”

Hornsby hopes the choir can reconnect with the Hunter community and spread joy through their upcoming performance. 

The choir has a longstanding relationship with Hunter. They’ve held several concerts at the college before, having last sang at Hunter in June 2013. They encourage attendees to understand and sing along by providing pamphlets with the lyrics translated to English. 

Shifee Losacco, another member of the choir, says it’s not just the words that are different when they sing in another language. Oftentimes, the musicality is different too.

“Swahili, that’s gonna be very rhythmic. It’s gonna have some kind of drum beat, most likely, and it has very recognizable harmonies,” Losacco said. 

With all these songs to learn, one might think the choir spends most of their time learning new songs, but it’s just the opposite. Their rehearsals feel like singing lessons.

“We work very intensely on our singing technique,” Hornsby said. “So our weekly rehearsals are one part learning the music, but most of it is about proper singing technique: breath control, harmonic control, listening to the other singers, projecting energy, picking the right singing style.”

To the members of Peace of Heart Choir, there’s something magical about rehearsals. For Losacco, it fills her heart to hear the different parts of the choir come together.

“We even breathe the same way. You feel connected to each other when you sing a song together,” said Losacco. 

The all-volunteer choir is also looking to replace singers that left during the COVID-19 pandemic, which shrunk their 50-person group to just 35 active members. 

Currently, the choir sings for free at outdoor spaces, including Central Park, or at care facilities like hospitals and homeless shelters. They also do paid events for corporate gatherings, birthdays and other similar events.

“The mission really spoke to me, in terms of being able to bring what I love to do, which is to sing to those in need who need a little lift,” Losacco said. 

“If I can bring that to somebody else and make their day, there’s nothing better than that.”

People interested in attending can purchase tickets online through the Peace of Heart Choir’s website. The concert will begin at 7 p.m. and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for ticket holders.

The event will also be livestreamed on their Facebook page for those who cannot make the concert in-person.