Masterful music — Davis Master Chorale marks 10 years of community concerts

A local group of dedicated musicians has filled Davis County with a decade of song.

On Sunday, July 9, at 7 p.m. the Davis Master Chorale will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a free concert at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater, 405 N. Wasatch Drive, Layton.

The chorale's musical director, Jim Johnson of Farmington, said during the past 10 years the group has provided many local residents with a place to share their talents.

"It's given an opportunity for people to sing that wouldn't get that opportunity normally outside of a church setting," he said. "It's just kind of elevated the experience for people."

The chorale made its debut in July 1996 at the Kaysville/Fruit Heights Patriotic Devotional. At the time, it was called the Kaysville/Fruit Heights Community Chorale and was under the direction of Davis High School band director Steve Hendricks.

The group was started in large part by Everett Watts, who lives near Kaysville in unincorporated Davis County.

After helping direct a choir that performed at the Bountiful LDS Temple dedication in 1995, Watts thought it would be nice to have a community choir that performed and practiced regularly.

In 1996, he participated in a Utah centennial celebration, which reaffirmed his interest in a community choir.

"I said, 'Now we really ought to do something for getting a choir for the Kaysville/Fruit Heights area,' " he said.

At that point, Watts discussed the idea of a community choir with five other local music directors, and the six ended up being the chorale's organizing committee.

The organizing committee started recruiting members for the group, and that first year the chorale had about 60 singers.

Most of the chorale's original members were from Kaysville and Fruit Heights, but now they come from throughout Davis County and beyond.

"We draw from a larger community now," Johnson said, "from the Salt Lake area up to Ogden."

The chorale is an adult choir that does not hold auditions.

Johnson said that in order to join, people must simply love to sing.

"We specifically said, 'We do not audition,' just because a lot of people can sing, but they couldn't pass an audition," he said. "You just have to have a love of singing."