The choir room is full of energy and sound, with a comforting hint of chilly air filling the room as December creeps in. Students warming up their voices as sheet music flutters, and singing on key begins. Full of anticipation for their next concert happening on December 10. All TB chorale, SA chorale, voces and choir concert are coming together to sing this, along with some special guests; past high school alumni and old teachers invited back to sing the last song “How Great Our Joy” from the audience which has never been done before.
“I like the new style of grand chorus piece we’re doing for this concert. I know many musicians don’t get opportunities to sing when they graduate high school, so I think it’s nice to let the audience join in the music,” junior Ayodeji Nilson said.
The beginning songs all consist of choir songs, such as “The Shadows of Sylva”, “How Great Our Joy”, “Sing We Now of Christmas”, “Alleluia Incantations”, and “In Meeting We are Blessed.” Having the “How Great Our Joy” be an acapella. The alumni got to choose the last song, “How Great Our Joy,” a song about celebration and love which is the one they’ll be getting to perform at the very end.
“I love it when we’ve finally learned our songs fully and we can immerse ourselves in our music fully. I think it will be a fun experience and a good experiment with our music,” senior Rory Wiladsen said.
From standing on the PAC stage during the wintertime to after school rehearsals later on Wednesday, the array of voices and harmonises all at once, no matter the occasion. As the concert approaches, the students have been practising reluctantly to improve and be more confident on the stage. Starting with rehearsals every day in class. Having chamber and JV Chamber choir practicing for 2-2:30 hours extra every Monday. And Jayblues practising twice a week on Wednesday mornings and Sunday nights. A very busy and time-consuming schedule, perfecting the songs and pitches one lesson at a time.
“I joined choir at first because I had a lot of friends in it and it sounded fun,” junior Chase Ashby said, “And I stayed because of the community environment- and because the choir director Mr Brown makes sure to know everybody by name, like has genuinely gotten to know all of us.”
The conductors, Mr Brown and Mrs Davis behind the scenes, making sure every note was hit just right, is standing right at the centre of this classroom; choir directors are in charge of leading, rehearsing, and coordinating all of the choir performances. This includes selecting musical pieces, teaching vocal techniques; and coaching singers on pitch, rhythm, harmony, and expression. They also manage administrative duties such as auditions, scheduling, and sometimes budgeting, and work to develop the skills and cohesion of their singers.
“Mr Brown and Mrs Davis are wonderful, exuberant and educational people. They give us a surplus of energy to work with while we sing. Also, it can be confidently said that they truly care about us and our voices,” Wildasen said.
Old teachers and students will emerge out from the audience at the last song to come up and sing. No matter the age, anybody that has been a previous choir member or teacher could sign up and learn the song. Helping kick off the holiday season with the rest of the class. Truly, a December to remember.
https://finearts.lps53.org/high-schools/choir
