On April 25, the Doermann Theatre at University Hall filled with the sound of people singing. Juice House Singing Blend’s Spring 2026 Choral Concert, titled “Rememberance,” drew an audience to a venue larger than the group’s usual setting.
The concert was also a milestone for the University of Toledo’s music department. Dr. Karen Miskell, the University of Toledo’s director of choral activities, noted that this past semester marked the first collaboration between Juice House and the music department to include student conductors.
“It’s been wonderful for them to rehearse weekly, get to know the community and understand what it takes to build a community as they go out into their own classrooms,” Miskell said.
The concert program spanned a dozen songs, from Broadway to film, including “Memory” from the musical “Cats,” “Remember Me” from “Coco” and “You’ll Be in My Heart” from “Tarzan.” The repertoire was carefully selected by Juice House’s Singing Blend conductor Rebekah Chang.
“The song choosing, to me, is critical,” Chang said after the concert. “I want to give the best and also the healthy thing to my students.”
She shared that the theme of the concert came to her unexpectedly one night through a personal memory, and grew from there as she searched for songs whose lyrics moved her.
The selected songs were also moving to both the singers and listeners, drawing out their personal remembrances. Singer Amanda Him, who performed as a soloist on “Remember Me” from “Coco,” described the song as a message to her family back home in Malaysia.
“I want to sing towards my mom and my parents, telling them to remember me,” Him said.
Suzanne Knehr, an audience member who came to watch two of her children perform, said that the theme brought to mind all of whom have passed.
“It made me think of both my parents and my father-in-law who are all passed away,” Knehr said.
For singer Katie Kirchner, the remembrance theme was not about the past at all.
“Rather than remembering a person, it was remembering this moment. Remembering what it feels like to get to meet these wonderful people and be part of something bigger, even just one night a week,” Kirchner said.
Juice House Singing Blend believes that everyone can sing and that music is not a competition but an expressive conversation and positive way to impact others. And from looking at the faces of the audience that evening, people were moved, each in their own way.
Juice House Singing Blend practices weekly on Mondays at the UToledo Center for Performing Arts. Their next concert is planned for fall 2026.
