Greek Week can mean a lot to members of sororities and fraternities, but Greek Sing gives non-Greek students a chance to get involved as well.

Greek Sing involves various fraternities and sororities performing a musical show. The groups will sing a variety of songs, all tied to a central theme, and will perform choreographed movements to the songs. One coach for the group’s performance must be a member of the fraternity or sorority, but sometimes they will get the help from other Eastern music students as well.

Patrick Ward, a freshman music education major, is helping the sorority Alpha Sigma Tau by playing piano during their practices and performance. Ward will also offer comments to the sorority on ways to improve their show.

While he is compensated for his time, Ward said the money is not the only thing he gets out of being involved with Greek Sing.

“Being a music education major, it makes sense to work with as many groups as possible,” Ward said.

Ben Parker, a senior management information systems major and music minor, is also helping Alpha Sigma Tau. In addition to advising the group, Parker plays guitar and piano during the group’s performances.

Parker said he got involved because several of his friends were in the sorority. He said the extra work has not been very demanding of him.

“I haven’t done this before,” Parker said. “It’s a great opportunity. I want to be a musician even though it’s not my type of music for all of it.”

Parker also said working with Alpha Sigma Tau will be good practice for the work he will be doing with the Decatur Park Singers in the summer. He said the group performs Pop music, similar to what he is learning with the sorority.

While Parker said the work has not been very challenging, Miranda Buob, a sophomore English and theater major, said her work with AST has been very intense. Buob is president of the sorority as well as its music director. She said that in addition to her numerous responsibilities as president, she ran for music director because no one else in her house has a musical background.Buob also said she was the music director for Alpha Sigma Tau last year. She said this year has been much easier since she knew what she was getting into.

“It takes a lot of prep work,” Buob said. “I think Greek Sing is a lot more work than people think it is. Everyone is really crunched for time because of the snow days. It’s cool to see the final product, but it is even cooler to see the amount of work that goes into it.”

Seth Schroeder can be reached at 581-2812 or scschroeder2@eiu.edu.

Ben Parker; a senior management information systems major with a music minor; plays guitar during Greek Sing practice with Alpha Sigma Tau. Parker helps coach AST; alongside several other musicians; for the competition.(Seth Schroeder

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