In many ways, the chorus embodies the burgeoning Portland campus and Northeastern’s values of lifelong learning, a global experience and collaboration.
The name is a bit tongue-in-cheek given the Roux Institute at Northeastern University’s focus on technology, data and life sciences.
But the Roux Department of Music community chorus is dedicated to singing — as well as demonstrating that not all bonding, and its resulting harmony, occurs in the lab.
“Singing is fun, it’s a joyous activity and it brings people together,” says Dan Koloski, head of learning programs at the institute, and the leader of the choir. “I think it’s very meaningful and fun for participants, too, which is great.”
The Roux Department of Music community chorus has about 20 members including faculty, staff and students at the Portland campus, and it meets every Monday afternoon to rehearse for performances at university events.
In many ways, the chorus embodies the burgeoning institute and Northeastern’s values of lifelong learning, a global experience and collaboration.
The chorus began small — and, like the Roux, was formed on an idea of better serving the future of Maine.
“Right before the first graduation at the Roux, we learned that Northeastern graduations follow a set protocol — one of which is the singing of the U.S. national anthem,” Koloski explained. “We decided to try and get a live group to sing and decided on a faculty and staff choir to lead the ceremony in honor of the students.”
The performance was a success, and the chorus’s membership of faculty and staff grew by word of mouth by the time commencement rolled around again in 2023.
Then this last year, students at the Roux organized a monthly open mic.
“I got together with them and said ‘Maybe you’re the students I was looking for,’” Koloski recalls. “I always wanted it to be faculty and staff and students.”
Albert Darko, a tenor in the chorus who is earning his master’s degree in analytics with a focus on applied machine intelligence, decided to join in advance of a lessons and carols service that the institute hosted last Christmas. The service included carols from India, his native Ghana and the United States.
He stayed on to perform at graduation.
“I wanted to let the community know that it’s not just all about learning, learning, learning,” Darko says. “Sometimes you need to get away from all of the assignments and stress, and this music group helps you to clear your mind — it gives you some room to be free, think less of stress, be yourself and help you to be okay.”
Brian Cavallaro, an IT support specialist at the Roux and a bass in the chorus, says his favorite part of the group is its eclectic mix of people.
“It’s especially neat meeting people who didn’t know our national anthem and them learning it with us,” Cavallaro says. “The sound produced by this eclectic group of voices is really different, and I love it — it’s a really cool sound.”
Indeed, the diverse accents among members of the group and the different levels of singing abilities give the group a unique sound. That sound is not as polished as an English church choir and perhaps a little limited in the treble (the chorus currently has more men than women). But the sound is, more than anything, joyful.
In fact, expanding on this theme, the chorus is currently working on an a cappella version of Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy.”
“Music is a universal language of sorts — everybody does sing in their culture, it’s just about the words, or specific tone, or melody you have to learn,” says Amanda Aguirre, manager of partnership operations at the Roux and a chorus member. “The chorus brings together all the different aspects of what the Roux is.”