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The Alamo City Street Choir is what its name suggests: a choir whose singers are mostly people experiencing homelessness.
Tracy Powers started the choir seven years ago, and she says it has grown steadily.
“We started this group in 2019, and we started with two singers,” Powers said. “Now we have about 100 singers every week. We've expanded to two rehearsals. We rehearse at Travis Park Church, and it is just a wonderful experience.”
Powers says Sunday’s performance will include three choirs together — including the Street Choir. The concert is called "Rivers of Hope."
Hope is sometimes hard to come by for those without a home. Powers hopes the Street Choir is given more hope by coming together and singing. Regarding this performance, Powers said she’s stocked the concert with hopeful songs.
“The 'Rivers of Hope' concert Sunday at Travis Park Church is this symbol of beautiful community because we will have Travis Park Church Sanctuary Choirled by Caroline Collins, and the San Antonio Chamber Choir, our one professional choir will also be joining us, she said. “And it's going to be wonderful, and it really does encircle the world with hope,” Powers said.
Finally, all three choirs will join voices for two songs.
“One of them is 'I Need You to Survive,' which is a beautiful gospel song by David Frazier,” she said. “And there's a surprise in that, which I'm not going to tell your listeners about, but they're going to love it!”
What started with just two singers now draws about 100 people each week. The camaraderie, the coming together for practice, and the singing is likely something that all parties enjoy. And the Street Choir members themselves probably get something there that they just don’t get elsewhere.
“They are so grateful. There's often tears in rehearsal, and hopefully that's not because I'm singing out of tune,” she said. “But there's a lot of gratitude, a lot of verbal gratitude. I get gifts from these people who have nothing.”
The performance is on Sunday at 3 p.m. at Travis Park Church downtown, and admission is free.
