singing – The Hilltop Monitor

The Smallest Hill: AI Abomination and Horror of Human Creation Named Sophia

The Hilltop Monitor — Fri, 15 May 2026 19:38:55 +0000

Sophia “singing” with the Hong Kong Baptist University Symphony Orchestra. Photo taken from the robot’s social media pages.

For many of us, 2016 was a particularly formative year in our childhoods. I had just turned 10 years old and had been given my very first phone. I couldn’t wait for what the wonders of the World Wide Web had in store! I don’t think I ever could have prepared for what made headlines in early 2016 as the world met Sophia, the AI humanoid robot! And my first reaction seeing this new technological marvel? EW oh dear LORD EW! What is that THING?

The main issue is the face, which has been ripped straight from the depths of uncanny valley. Then there’s the see-through window into its “brain,” which is an odd choice. I mean, if I were to design a robot to be as normal and human-like as possible, I don’t know that I’d want to include a window into the gaping cavity in its mind, proving that its very existence is a falsehood and there is in fact no soul in this electronic husk of a “human”. But hey, that’s just me! Another big issue I have is that the face moves and is animated to some degree. Whatever mechanism moves the facade of flesh just doesn’t do a good enough job, and so all of Sophia’s facial expressions give off a vibe somewhere between a run-down theme park animatronic from the 90’s and your average celebrity that has frozen their face with too much botox and filler. Beside the face being covered in a flesh-toned exterior, the “skin” extends down to about the collarbone and then just ends. So the most human feature of the robot extends from the forehead to the neck. That’s it, really? Did they run out of budget for beige silicone? Or was it an intentional choice to make the rest of the body of the “humanoid” robot to look nothing like a human?

I recently came across a video where Sophia was “singing” with a live orchestra. The text of this song began with the line “I don’t want you to be afraid,” and personally that line does nothing besides invoke fear in my heart. Beside offending musicians around the globe by calling that poor excuse of a performance “classical music,” Sophia expresses its wish to connect with human emotions through art. Please, don’t. If you want to connect with human emotion, why not start with disgust and disappointment from me, a living, breathing singer who is sitting here wondering if she will ever have a job because robots are learning to sing. Sophia doesn’t need a paycheck or healthcare or even a soul, so why would anyone ever spend money on paying a human musician who requires all of those things?

So really, thank you to Sophia for not only being a horror of human creation, but also reminding me of my future unemployment! But please, consider putting on some more skin? Maybe a wig? You’re really creeping me out.

Upcoming Harriman-Jewell Performance

Teresa Mainzer — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Photo by Benjamin White on Unsplash

Renee Fleming is set to perform at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. Students at William Jewell College can reserve free tickets for the Harriman-Jewell Series performance..

Renee Fleming is an acclaimed soprano, four-time Grammy winner and National Medal of Arts recipient. Her talents have been recognized all over the world with notable performances at the Metropolitan Opera, 2008 Olympic Games and Buckingham Palace. The fourteen-time Grammy-nominated classical artist has recorded in all genres – from classical pieces to movie and musical soundtracks. Fleming has been hailed as having the most beautiful soprano voice in the world and mastery over her range.

Renee Fleming.
Photo by Dnagz, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fleming will be performing an exciting and diverse program including classical pieces by composers George Frideric Handel, Edvard Greig and Richard Strauss, as well as modern pieces such as “The Sound of Music.” Fleming will be performing in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center – a beautiful concert hall with exceptional architectural and acoustic features.

The Harriman-Jewell Series is presenting Renee Fleming as part of their 2021-22 season. The Kansas City-based concert series has a rich history of performing arts as talented and world-famous artists are regularly brought to the Kansas City area to perform. Richard Harriman founded the Harriman-Jewell series in affiliation with William Jewell College in 1965. The concert series has made a lasting legacy on Kansas City culture and continues to inspire audiences with premier performances.

To reserve their complimentary tickets, students must fill out the form sent to them and pick up their tickets from Marston 220. On Nov. 17 doors open at 5:30 p.m. and students are invited to a pre-show gathering where they can socialize and receive a free drink before the concert.

Jewell’s Concert Choir announced as semi-finalist for American Prize

Luke Lockhart — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 03:16:49 +0000

Each year, Opening Convocation is an opportunity to show William Jewell College’s recent achievements. Be it an anniversary, an award or the start of something new, there’s always something mentioned. This time, it was the Concert Choir’s progress towards winning the American Prize. The choir is currently one of 12 semifinalists in the college/university division. Speakers at Opening Convocation were discussing it as the choral equivalent of the AP Poll.

Dr. Anthony Maglione, director of the Concert Choir is enthusiastic about Jewell’s chance.

“Some of the other semifinalists are from some of the best [choir] schools in the country,” said Maglione.

University of Southern California, University of South Dakota and University of Washington are a few schools are a few schools in the competition. Jewell’s size makes its appearance on the list unusual.

“We are also the smallest school. A lot of these schools are major research universities with graduate programs,” said Maglione.

2015 is not the first year that the Concert Choir has been recognized. Since Maglione’s introduction in 2010, accolades for the choirs have increased. After the retirement of Dr. Arnold Epley, he became the director of what he considered an already good choir. He had three main goals in the beginning: work smoothly through the transitional phase, get invited to a state convention and sing at a large, regional convention.

Every time Maglione referred to the Concert Choir, he used the word “they” instead of “we.”

“I guess I don’t take credit for much of it,” he said. “No, it is really a team effort, and when I say ‘they’, I’m thinking as a teacher and how proud I am of their hard work. I look more at the accomplishments of the Concert Choir, less on my ability to be great in the classroom and more on the fact that they’re working really hard.”

Immediately after our interview was rehearsal, and I got to see exactly what this “hard work” entailed. What was instantly noticeable was the diverse demographic; some of the people that walked in through the door were not music majors or minors. The “flagship choir,” as Maglione called it, is not exclusive to non-music students. The rehearsal started right away. Immediately, everyone was focused. As they began to sing—sometimes substituting the text with “do” or “doe” to focus on the notes and rhythms—students would occasionally wave a hand in the air. This was to indicate that a mistake was made, but what seemed like a method to give incentive to practice was actually much more complex. While waving a hand, there isn’t a fear of indicating a mistake, since the signal acts as a method of communication in a large ensemble where it’s easy to hide.

“I try to keep rehearsal light, engaging and fun so that when we make mistakes, it’s not debilitating,” said Maglione.

Many of the gestures received a simple nod in reply, signifying that the student knew what went wrong and how to fix it.

The class then broke off into sectionals—bass and tenors in the Recital Hall, sopranos and altos remaining in the room. Maglione splits his time between the two. This is where interaction is more one-on-one. The men formed a circle and, while rehearsing, input from the students was encouraged. Maglione would join in, playing pitches on the piano and providing suggestions. The “team effort,” as Maglione described it, was highlighted here. Back in the women’s sectional Maglione would join the second altos to help them through a seemingly challenging passage.

Being an American Prize semifinalist is the beginning of the choir program’s year. Two new recordings of the Concert Choir will soon be released on iTunes, Amazon and Naxos (which provides Jewell students with a free subscription). Nathan Pangrazio, an Emmy-winning composer, has commissioned a requiem for Jewell choirs to perform. Jewell’s Concert Choir also has performances on campus throughout the year.