Washington men sing in prison choir

A group of over 60 people gathered to hear a choir perform Christmas carols and other songs, some of which were written by members of the choir. Members of the choir also performed on the banjo, the guitars and the piano. Throughout the night, the singers approached a microphone to introduce themselves and their family members who had come to hear them.

The above description could fit any number of musical performances from high school choirs to the Washington Choral Society, but Wednesday?s choir was unique in that it was held inside a prison. The singers were members of the Oakdale Community Choir, a group of about 35 prisoners and 25 outside volunteers who sing at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville. Among those 25 volunteers are Washington residents Tim Widmer and Roger Farmer.

Widmer and Farmer have sung in the choir since it began in the spring of 2009. The choir was founded that year by its director, Dr. Mary Cohen, who is a professor of music education at the University of Iowa. Cohen became interested in prison outreach when she was a student at the University of Kansas. She attended concerts which consisted of both prisoners and outsiders and was very impressed at what could be done with a prison choir. When Cohen began teaching at the University of Iowa, she wanted to start a prison choir of her own, which she did.

Cohen leads a song-writing workshop with the inmates. Oftentimes, the inmates write poems or song lyrics to which Cohen adds music to turn them into songs. One inmate named Kenneth wrote the lyrics to a song he titled ?May the Stars Remember Your Name.? American cellist Yo-Yo Ma heard the song and liked it so much he performed it when he visited the Warrenville Youth Detention Center in Warrenville, Ill. An inmate named Tim said that he played the trombone before he went to prison and is now learning the guitar. Tim said he has written five songs and that he likes folksy music.

The choir performs two concerts every year and rehearses every week of the academic year. Farmer said that when he heard a prison choir was forming in Coralville, he wanted to be a part of it. Farmer was the pastor at Sugar Creek Mennonite Church in Wayland for nearly 10 years.

?Jesus said to visit the prisoners and be kind to people in need,? Farmer said. ?I like music and I wasn?t singing in a regular choir at the time. I wasn?t concerned about my safety because as a pastor I had visited guys in jail before.?

Farmer said the volunteers are encouraged not to ask about the inmates? background and criminal history. He said that, despite the regulations on conversation, he is able to get to know the inmates on a personal level.

?They like to talk about what sorts of musical things they?ve done in the past,? he said. ?One guy in there likes languages and is studying Hebrew and Greek.?

Farmer invited Widmer to join the choir and Widmer accepted. Widmer said he did not have any history in prison outreach when he joined the choir but that he had always admired people who did that.

?I like to sing in the first place, and I was always curious about prisoners and what it would be like to stand beside a prison and talk to them,? he said. ?At the core of my motivation is a concern for other people. I?ve always thought there has to be a better way to rehabilitate law-breakers. Anything we can do to bring a little normality to their lives can?t hurt. This choir is one little way of helping.?

Widmer said he was a little surprised at first to learn the prisoners would be interested in writing songs. He said that the quality of the songs at the concert is a testament to Cohen?s ability to motivate the prisoners.

?Any talent Mary sees in the inmate population, she takes advantage of,? he said. ?If they know how to play piano or guitar, she tries to use their talents.?