Featured music in the first choir concert of the fall semester will include “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Agnus Dei” and “The Water is Wide,” all widely recognized songs with a theme of spirituality.

The performance will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at Wilmont Place Baptist Church, 6440 S Santa Fe Ave. in Oklahoma City.

Choir Director Ron Staton explained how he decides which music will be performed at each concert.

“Sometimes you have a theme you try to follow, and sometimes I pick pieces based on what concepts I want to teach the choir,” he said.

“The overriding thing is it has to have good text. If you don’t have a good text, then there is no point in doing a song.”

The three college choirs, the Concert, Chamber and Symphonic Community choirs, are led by Staton, who is in his seventh year at OCCC, and accompanied by pianist Lisa Barsalau.

“The singers prepare for six weeks for this concert,” Staton said.

“The three choirs are made up of 141 college students and community members,” Staton said.

The Chamber choir, which students must audition for, has 28 members.

Emily Page, a music major and Chamber choir member, said her favorite piece they will be performing is “Festival Sanctus,” another song with a religious theme.

The Concert choir is comprised of 35 student vocalists, who are not required to audition. Every student is welcome to join the Concert choir, Staton said.

Students are not required to be music majors to join either choir.

The Symphonic Community choir boasts 78 members from the community.

For more information about the choral music program, contact Staton at RStaton@occc.edu.