Lynchburg College choral program to hold concert Aug. 2

If you're going:

WHAT: The Lynchburg College Choral Union Summer Concert

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2

WHERE: Snidow Chapel

ADMISSION: Free

INFO: www.lynchburg.edu/x11947.xml

PLUS: Ververis’ fellow students in the choral conducting program, Melanie Braxton Coleman and Katie Pyles, will also conduct pieces.

“A choral conductor, to me, is a teacher,” says Ververis, 27. “Usually, you have to teach (members) how to sing and how to read music. We teach people music through choral music.”

Back home in his native Greece, Ververis does both.

By day, he’s an elementary school music teacher, and by night, the conductor of two adult choirs, one community choir and one he organized with friends.

This summer, Ververis — who already has a bachelor’s in musicology and music education from Greece’s Aristotle University and a master’s in choral education from London’s Roehampton University — is in the Hill City continuing his education at Lynchburg College.

He’s one of three students enrolled in the college’s Master of Arts in Music choral conducting program, and all three will get the chance to show their stuff with the LC Summer Choral Union practicum choir in a concert scheduled for Aug. 2.

The program, which includes four six-week summer sessions, is designed to build skills, says Jong Kim, an LC music professor and the coordinator of graduate studies in music.

“Conducting is not something you do in your undergraduate program,” he says. “We’re providing those practical training opportunities.”

He says they’ve spent the summer trying to get the soft-spoken Ververis to open up.

“He’s very gifted, but he’s shy,” says Kim, who also conducts the Choral Union and the college’s other choirs.

“What I try to do with him is make him a little more energetic and make his music come out of him. As a conductor, you need to develop another personality. It’s someone else when you step up to that podium.”

Kim says he has seen changes in Ververis since he came to Lynchburg three weeks ago.

“I think he’s coming along.”

Conducting is just another step Ververis has taken to pursue his lifelong love of music.

Growing up on the Greek Island of Lesvos, his house was always filled with his mother’s beloved classical music, and he learned to play the piano and other Greek instruments at a young age.

His voice, though, became his most powerful instrument.

“I just liked choral singing,” he says. “I’ve sang in choirs since I was a kid. It’s something very nice for me, so I want to share it with others.”

He decided to go into teaching because “it’s a realistic point of view,” he says. “You can get a job and make money.”

It also affords him summers off to do other things, like LC’s program. He’ll return to the area for the next three summers to complete his studies.

Ververis says it’s been fun working with the Choral Union, which is made up of community members.

“They understand what we’re doing is a process of learning,” he says. “They’re very polite with us.”

The musical selection for the concert is based entirely on what the students need to work on most, Kim says.

For Ververis, that means energetic pieces like Brahms’ “The May Night” and even a Greek piece.

“Conducting is not just mere hand gestures,” Kim says. “It’s the whole body. It has to be your instrument.”