It’s the beginning of rehearsal and all the singers have found their places, ready to get started.

“I know things happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if this is the kind of group we put together at the concert?” the director asks them.

Robert Shoup, Chorus Master & Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, addresses the musicians just as he has many times before throughout his 20-year career. But today he isn’t directing members of the orchestra. He is directing members of the Norfolk Street Choir, a group he founded in 2016 for individuals who are or have been homeless. Several now live in transitional housing, and some juggle rehearsal times with work schedules.

Thirty people have shown up for this week’s rehearsal, and Shoup couldn’t be more pleased. The choir has only two more rehearsals before their performance and they sound great. This week, the focus is less about the melody or the lyrics and more about the meaning behind the words they will be singing.

“Imagine people sitting here who need to receive what you have to say,” Shoup tells choir members. “All of you singing in this group have earned it. You’ve got the credentials to say, 'Keep going.’ To the person who comes and doesn’t have the same challenges you do but has challenges--who is hurting, or disappointed or upset or whatever it is--when you sing these words you have the power to send them out of here changed. That’s the mission.”

Johnnie Driggins understands this mission well. He has been a part of the choir since it was formed, and he saw firsthand the impact a song can have on an audience. Last year, the choir performed a song he wrote, and he became emotional seeing the way it moved the audience. One audience member who enjoyed it happened to be a record producer and asked Johnnie to record it in a studio. For this year’s concert, the choir is performing the new studio version of the song.

“I wrote  this song 26 years ago in 1996,” Driggins explains. “In 1999 it was my graduation song and I won a $2,000 scholarship for it, so it’s one of those special songs.”

Following the rehearsal of Driggins’ song “Don’t Give Up,” choir members move on to practice “This is Me,” a lively number from the soundtrack of The Greatest Showman. It is one the choir sings with gusto.

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me

With each rehearsal that members attend, they earn rewards like bus passes, sweatshirts, or gift cards--but for many members there are benefits that go beyond these tangible items.

“The Norfolk Street Choir is one of the jewels in my life that I look forward to every Friday,” explains Mike Reed, another member who has been with the choir since its inception. “I look forward to giving back to the community and putting smiles on people’s faces.”

There is no doubt there will be many smiling faces at the upcoming concert--and maybe even a few tears.

Catch the choir’s performance on Saturday, May 5, at Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk. Admission is free.

Visit the Norfolk Street Choir on Facebook.