On Sunday, Jan. 15, the Chase gymnasium was a cacophony of sound — guitars, violins, ukuleles and kazoos were but a few of the instruments there. Then the lead drummer struck a beat, and music rang throughout the gym as a unique Singspiration chapel began that night: the Hootenanny.

Singspiration is one of the eight weekly chapels organized by Spiritual Development. Typically a night full of just singing, this Singspiration had a special spin: students were invited to bring their acoustic instruments and play along with the chapel music team using provided chord notations.

THE EXPERIENCE

Freshman Hannah Wittenberger found the Hootenanny wonderfully harmonious.

“I really enjoyed the Hootenanny — I didn’t think I’d enjoy it that much. I was expecting a lot of cacophony because there’s a lot of different types of instruments, and they’ve never rehearsed or practiced together,” Wittenberger said. “But I was so pleasantly surprised. It was so fun going around the room and checking out everyone’s instruments … It was a nice harmony, and I really enjoyed it.”

One thing Wittenberger found special about this Singspiration chapel was how involved the student body could be. “It was so cool to see how talented the other Biola students are [and seeing] the different range of instruments, because I was mostly expecting just guitar … But there were so many more instruments,” Wittenberger said, including violins, flutes, trumpets and kazoos. 

Students sat in chairs arranged at the center of the gym, playing their instruments with gusto. Still others formed a ring around the gym, singing and playing, voices and music rising together in praise to God.