Life & Work with Michael Chesney of Columbia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Chesney.

Hi Michael, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Singing has changed my life over and over again.

When I was 12 I auditioned for the world-renowned Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale. I sang with that choir and other boys choirs for 7 years – performed at the White House, the World’s Fair and on four different continents.

My life changed again when my older brother went to college and introduced me to The Midnight Ramblers and The Yellowjackets, two a cappella groups at the University of Rochester. He lent me his copy of an album they both appeared on – Best of College A Cappella 2001. One listen, and that was it… I was hooked.

I knew when I went to college, I wanted to be in an a cappella group. As I chose between USC, Northwestern, Syracuse, etc., I wasn’t just thinking about getting my journalism degree, I was also thinking about the great a cappella groups each school had.

I chose the University of Missouri.

The upside of the choice was that I was sure MU was the best place to go after my dream to be a TV news reporter (which I did for nearly a decade). The downside was that when I entered school in the fall of 2004, the school had a grand total of zero a cappella groups.

I knew if I was going to live out my dream of being in an a cappella group in college, I was going to have to start one myself. In the spring of 2005, Mizzou Forte became the first officially recognized a cappella group at the University of Missouri. Interestingly, there were other students who also wanted to see a cappella at MU, who started another, now-defunct group at roughly the same time. Combined, the world of vocal music without instruments had come to Columbia.

Mizzou Forte started with me and two girls who lived in my dorm – Jenni and Caroline. Together we held the group’s first auditions, added new members and started down a path of fun and music. Through countless rehearsals and performances at major campus traditions, sporting events, graduations and even on TV, I I had the pleasure of leading Mizzou Forte as both president and music director for its first, formative years.

When I entered the second semester of my junior year, I passed the presidency to another member. Senior year I stepped aside for a new music director. It was so important to me that the group continue after I had graduated. Having a year-plus to help and support these next leaders as they charted their own course for the group was key to my goal of ensuring that Mizzou Forte would keep going for years to come.

And continue it has. It has been such a joy to watch the group grow and evolve as it now heads into its third decade. I feel like a proud parent. All the way back in 2005, I had hoped but did not expect that Mizzou Forte would still be here 20 years later. And I’m so grateful to all the incredible singers, leaders, and (as we call them) MFers, who have made that possible.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was definitely not always a smooth road. Starting something from nothing, be it a singing group or a start-up company, is never easy.

When we were trying to get the group off the ground, it was a time before The Sing Off and Pentatonix, before Pitch Perfect and The Barden Bellas. It was a struggle to introduce the idea of a cappella at MU. As we worked to grow awareness of the group and the genre, we also faced challenges like losing key members to other commitments or to transferring to another school. We had bad rehearsals the night before major performances. We dealt with inter-group rivalries (now you can think Pitch Perfect… Treblemakers versus Bellas).

But it was always worth it. Every challenge we faced, every obstacle we overcame, helped strengthen Mizzou Forte into an organization capable of continuing for 20 years and, hopefully, many years to come.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Here is a great link to many, many performances from Mizzou Forte over the years – https://www.youtube.com/user/MizzouForte

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My family is the most important thing in the world to me. And that is why I am so excited to be able to come back to the University of Missouri this spring to celebrate 20 years of Mizzou Forte and share with my wife and daughters something that was so meaningful to me and the legacy I have been honored to leave at MU.