Choir performs well at Southwest Prairie Conference

Anesa Nevzadi

Courtesy of Will Snydersmith

Concert choir perform “Tortoise and the Hare” at the winter concert.

Leila Bernal, Staff Writer

 Choir participated in the SPC (Southwest Prairie Conference), where students sing to be reviewed by a technician. Their performances went well despite the hiccups along the way. 

  Earlier this year Nathan Rancatore, choir director, went on paternity leave, which left the different levels of choir to learn their parts on their own. There are three choir levels: Mixed Choir (Entry Level), Treble Choir (Middle Level, all female), and Concert Choir ( Top level). Each is its own separate group, singing different songs for concerts. 

   “Choir offers a lot of community even between the separate levels of choir. There is a sense of bonding,” senior Sydnee Osgood, Concert Choir, said. Preparation for concerts takes a long time because each group has to learn the four vocal parts individually then put them all together. 

  “All of the things that we get to create here every single day work in creating the bond that a lot of students start to grow with over the course of their time here,” Rancatore said. The groups had to perform two to three songs, they had the pieces “Weep No More” and “Tortoise and the Hare.” Additionally the Orlando Ensemble, an after school ensemble that will be performing at Walt Disney World on spring break, performed “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers. The groups were able to persevere because of how tight knit of a group they are.

 “It’s a sense of family, you just feel like you can’t have a bad day once you leave the choir room,” junior Mackenzie Burgess, Treble Choir, said. 

Learning by themselves did not hinder the choir this year, and they did well at the conference. Another concert will be in the spring and the choir encourages people to join and experience the environment.

 “If you have the slightest thought in your head to join a choir, just do it! It’s a totally different environment, it’s not what you think a choir is when you get into it,” junior Camryn Knobbe, Concert Choir, said.