09/04/2026
Way to go Kevin Gard! We are proud of you! Go see this concert :)
WHO MAKES A CHOIR?
Meet Kevin Gard, in our powerful tenor section.
Kevin’s parents noticed his musical ear early.
Very early.
He remembers matching pitch with everything from a lawn mower to the beep of the microwave.
By third grade, he was singing with Young Naperville Singers. He stayed for ten years, continued through college and community choirs, and has now spent nearly two decades singing in ensembles.
What’s remarkable is that Kevin says he has never had an official voice lesson.
Instead, he has developed his vocal craft independently — listening, learning and deliberately seeking musical experiences that stretch him.
That includes four years with the Orpheus Choir at Olivet Nazarene University, lead vocals in Sounds of the Season, tenor solo work in Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass, and singing Handel’s Messiah both as a soloist and as part of the chorus.
And Kevin has a particularly good way of describing why choir still matters to him:
Choral singing is a “team game.”
It requires critical listening. Quick adjustment. An awareness of what everyone around you is doing. In a smaller chamber ensemble, that responsibility becomes even more immediate — and so does the sense of community that comes from it.
Solo singing asks Kevin to explore the tendencies and timbre of his own voice.
Choir asks him to listen outward.
Nearly twenty years after that first children’s choir — and long after matching pitches with household appliances — he’s still looking for the next musical challenge.
Who makes a choir?
Kevin Gard does.
Hear Kevin with Fox Chamber Singers at EN MASSE.
November 8 · 2 PM
Marmion Abbey
Details + tickets:
foxchambersingers.org/experience-the-music/en-masse/
