Voices of Lee celebrate 25 years in alumni-packed concert
Photo by Madi Rosenthal
Voices of Lee celebrated 25 years of music on Saturday with an alumni-packed reunion and concert. With 2 1/2 decades worth of members taking the stage, there were tears, laughter and cheering throughout the night.
The performance consisted primarily of large group performances, two quartets, a piano performance—featuring five pianists—a 2009 “SING OFF” reunion performance and a five-person beatbox performance.
Jayliene Bonilla, current member of Voices of Lee and English writing and journalism major, said that the Voices alumni arrived on Friday for a banquet. Saturday consisted of a large group rehearsal and laying out of the set before the show on Saturday evening.
“What makes it interesting is while most groups have multiple directors over the years… Danny [founder and director of the Voices of Lee] has been doing it since the beginning,” Bonilla said.
During the reunion, Murray was gifted with $25,000 from former Voices members.
General Overseer of the Church of God Tim Hill thanked Murray and said, “Congratulations on 25 wonderful years.”
President Paul Conn also announced the building of a teaching and recording studio that will be called the Danny Murray Recording Studio.
“This is about more than an old choir director can handle,” Murray said.
The final gift given to Murray and his wife Debbie was the same prayer and blessing sang over them that the ensemble sings for each church and restaurant they visit. Voices members described it as a personal and sentimental gift given from every member to the couple.
“In some ways, it seems impossible that this group is [only] 25 years old,” Paul Conn wrote in the program. “They have become such a prominent part of the Lee landscape, it’s hard to imagine what we would do without them, and it seems almost as if they have always been here.”
A video of the event can be seen on Lee University’s Facebook page. A two-disc, 25th Anniversary Collection CD set can be purchased here to relive the evening of song and celebration.
