Kevin Hall, director for VCU’s Black Awakening choir, defines his job as more than just teaching music. The choir members, he said, can depend on him to listen to their personal problems and to give advice.
“Some people share personal concerns and need some advice,” he said. “I open myself up to be a friend and a leader. I try and make them feel comfortable coming to me about personal and sensitive issues.”
Hall, 36, and a native of Ashland, is in his second year as director for the choir. His motto, he said, is ministering in excellence. From day one it was his goal, he said, to take this group to a new level.
“Bring to a higher standard,” he said.
Hall first got wind of this job through Eric Taylor, faculty adviser for the choir. Knowing his previous work with other choirs, Taylor said, Hall was at the top of his list when the choir was looking for a replacement.
“I heard him at St. Peter Baptist Church and was very impressed with how well he trained their youth choir,” he said.
Proclaiming himself as not a morning person, Hall said he wakes up most mornings at 7 a.m. and watches the “The Today Show.” His full-time job at LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. allows him to travel and work from home. He said the amount of time he puts into directing the choir encompasses more than the 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday rehearsals he conducts at the Pace Center located at 700 W. Franklin St.
“It is 24 hours a day and seven days a week,” he said. “When I’m not with them, I’m planning for upcoming events. I’m constantly planning to keep the morale up and to keep the choir motivated. I believe that without goals things become stagnant and stale. I can be planning at a music store or sitting down on my sofa. I have come up with choreography for songs while driving in my car.”
Commending Hall’s efforts, Taylor said the director is doing a great job.
Corey Boone, choir member, also believes Hall is moving the choir in the right direction.
“Kevin is an awesome director,” he said. “It amazes me how great we sound. We sing some of the same songs as choirs sing on the radio and we sound just as powerful.”
Hall is most thankful, he said for having Jesus Christ as the head of his life.
“As the result everything else falls into place,” he said.
He was voted Mr. Norfolk State University Gospel Choir in 1988 and also received a honor from radio station WFTH as an outstanding choir director in September 2002. Hall explained why he pushes hard for excellence when he directs.
“Whenever I think of God, I think of excellence,” he said. “When I do something I want to give him my best. We can never be like God but we can at least strive to be. This is our offering for him. God sacrificed his best son, Jesus Christ, for us.”
When Hall is not working with the choir, he said, he likes to relax by reading and going to the gym. In the evenings, he said, he regularly exercises at Extreme Fitness located at 3716 Williamsburg Road.
Hall said he is happy with the progress the choir has made since his arrival, but he has not decided whether or not he will be returning next fall.
“I don’t take credit for anything I do,” he said. “I praise God for working through me.”