Big Red Singers to perform here Sunday

The Big Red Singers are set for a return engagement at Aurora High School this Sunday afternoon and there will be at least one familiar face to Aurorans in the popular UNL musical group. The singers are being sponsored by the Hamilton Community Foundation (HCF) for  clinics with students from the high school to be held in the afternoon followed by a combined community concert at 5 p.m. Appearing with the singers when they take the stage will be Husky alum Jeremy Oswald who is a member of the group. 
“He was a stalwart in show choir and choir and musicals and he was one of the leads in our, in his last musical,  “Newsies,” said Jason Frew, Aurora’s high school vocal music teacher. “He’s just an all around great kid and getting to see him flourish is really, really neat.”
Frew said he’s grateful to the HCF for bringing the group back (the last time it was here was Jan. 2022) and he said his students are excited for the opportunity to get input from this talented group of collegiate singers.
“It’s been fantastic,” he said. “I was a UNL alum and I was a student director of the Big Red Singers when I was there. They are the preeminent collegiate show choir in the state and it’s a lot of fun to have some of the state’s best show choir kids that have gone on to college, all in one group that continues to fine tune their craft and be ambassadors. And then having them be able to come in and not only put on a show with us, but also to give us some feedback and suggestions is really a great thing.”
The schedule for the day will begin with a one-hour clinic in which the college singers will work with the high school’s women’s show choir, known as Impact, beginning at 2:15 p.m. The school’s flagship audition ensemble, Rhapsody, gets its opportunity to work with the college group next at 3:15. Doors will open to the Middle School Theatre at 4:30 and the concert, featuring presentations by Impact, Rhapsody and the Big Red Singers, begins at 5. Admission is free of charge and everyone is invited to attend. 
“Anytime you can rub shoulders with somebody else, you can find ways to get better, gain confidence and get some praise and suggestions to better ourselves,” Frew said. “Plus, it’s nice that we have an Aurora alum in the group in Jeremy Oswald. It’s always fun to get to see some of our own who have gone on and continued to pursue music once they’ve moved on from Aurora, so it’s really cool.”
Frew said he’s also excited for the community to see the progress the hometown musical groups have made this year. 
“Our show choirs haven’t gotten to perform in town since our full concert at the beginning of November,” he said, “and even when we did, the groups weren’t performing their entire show and we didn’t have costumes yet. So the fact that this will be the first time our community will get to see our full shows is exciting as well.”
“We’re just incredibly grateful for the Hamilton Community Foundation to join forces with us in getting them to come here,” Frew said, “not only for the betterment of our groups, but also just to support the fine arts in our community. So it is a huge blessing that we have such a great organization that’s willing to help facilitate having events like this in town.”
In her first year of organizing this particular event, Katie Mitchell, a four-year member of the HCF Fine Arts Committee, said, “We are so fortunate as a community to have the Hamilton Community Foundation sponsor this event and for everything else they do for this community. I know Mr Frew and the students are excited about it, and I’m very excited too! It will be my first time seeing them!”
HCF Executive Director Tammy Morris called the event “a neat opportunity for college students to come back and mentor high school students,” and emphasized this is just one of many impacts made locally by the Fine Arts Committee. 
“The Fine Arts Committee has been part of the foundation for more than 35 years,” Morris said. “This committee was led by Pat Phillips for many years.”
Morris said in addition to sponsoring the Big Red Singers, over the years the foundation has helped the committee fund the following projects: The downtown mural project completed last October; musical performances for seniors; family entertainment at A’ROR’N Days; crane sculptures at Streeter Park; the annual Aurora Art Walk; the heart sculpture at the Alice Farr Library painted by Aurora High School art students; the heart sculpture in Hampton painted by Hampton High School art students and painted wings on the Monets building in Aurora, on the Groove Salon Building in Hampton, inside of Banana Ram’s at Hordville and on the Phillips Memorial Hall in Phillips.
HCF’s Fine Arts Committee also funds an Artists in the Schools program in which an artist works with art students on a rotating basis each year between Aurora, Giltner and Hampton.
Morris said the next big project for the HCF Fine Arts Committee is to pursue a Creative District Designation for Aurora  through the Nebraska Arts Council. 
“This project involves planning, community conversations, a designated project/area and plan for completion,” Morris said. “Creative Districts are designated cultural and economic areas where innovation flourishes and neighborhoods come together in the name of art. This program is designed for projects that focus on significant cultural tourism projects.”