The LBW Community College Ensemble is back in the rehearsal studio and gearing up for what Director Greg Aplin says will be a strong year.

“Part of our set will be the same, but we are adding a couple of new tunes to the show,” Aplin said. “We have a lot of strong female voices this year so we will showcase a lot of them.”

This year’s show will feature “Edge of Glory” by Lady GaGa, “What I Like About You” by 5 Seconds of Summer, traditional tunes such as “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Go’s, “Little Less Conversation” by Elvis Presley and several new solos that will be performed by individual members of the ensemble.

Aplin said that it has been a very busy summer for the singers of the group.

“They have been working very hard,” Aplin said. “For the past six weeks they have been learning music and choreography, but they have always had a positive attitude doing it.”

This will be Elizabeth Cravey’s last year in the ensemble and she said that it has been a blast.

“I joined ensemble because I was in choir all four years of high school,” Cravey said. “My junior year in high school, the ensemble came and I just fell in love with it. So I auditioned my senior year of high school and made it.” Cravey said that she was nervous during the audition, but once she made it she was ecstatic.

“I was so nervous whenever I auditioned,” Cravey said. “But then I made it and it was more a feeling of happiness.”

Since this is Cravey’s last year in the ensemble, she said that she will miss the family aspect the most.

“Every one in the ensemble is like family members,” Cravey said. “That is what I will miss the most, the family aspect of everything.”

After graduating from LBW in the spring, Cravey will attend the LBW McArthur Campus to pursue a degree in computer science technology.

Director Johnny Brewer said that he is extremely optimistic about the potential that this year’s group has.

“We have several strong voices and horn players this year,” Brewer said. “There is strength in the band all around and we will feature all of that. The personalities of the group have really meshed in a great way and they are all working hard.”

Brewer said that the group is usually tied to their service area to perform, which is Covington County, Crenshaw County, Butler County and Geneva County, with other shows at the county fair and several College 101 to try and recruit students to LBW. Brewer said that this year the ensemble was invited to perform at the Alabama Community College system wide conference in Mobile.

“We are very honored to be invited to perform there,” Brewer said. “Now we just have to practice hard and work on figuring out all the kinks to go.”

The ensemble will perform more than 25 shows this spring.