A new men’s choir at Brethren Christian High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., is featured in today’s Orange County Register. (The school has deep roots in the Grace Brethren movement in Southern California, having begun on Long Beach, Calif., and led by several Grace Brethren pastors.) A portion of the story appears below. Click here for the complete article.

Ryan Yoder, conductor, introduces the men’s choir before a performance at Brethren Christian’s annual Christmas concert.

Brethren Christian students form a brotherhood of song

For the first time, Brethren Christian High School has a men’s choir. What started as a single song performed once by eight boys in the mixed choir is now a standalone 25-voice all-male choir. This new addition aims to challenge stereotypes about men participating in vocal music and show these male students the many benefits of participating in choir.

“Right when I heard we were going to start a men’s choir, I knew I had to be a part of it because I knew it was going to be big,” said sophomore Jakob Welch. “If guys are interested at all in the fine arts, this is a good place to start.”

Associate choir director Ryan Yoder said he was worried about finding enough recruits to make a legitimate choir, so he tried to make the invitation to join as welcoming as possible. He did everything he could think of to appeal to his audience, from creating a funny Instagram meme to throwing a pizza party, but ultimately, Yoder said, seeing other male students singing is what made the biggest impression.

“After seeing some other guys perform last year I really wanted to join, but I was scared to try out,” said sophomore David Salas. He auditioned only after being carried into the choir room by some of the existing choir members, he said. “It was literally the best thing ever, and I guess I needed that to happen to get here.”

Click here for the complete article.