On Friday, May 3, Choate’s Chamber and Festival Chorus gave a stunning final concert in the Seymour St. John Chapel. Both choirs have been rehearsing since the beginning of the year, proving their tremendous commitment. Their dedication and sincerity showed through the great repertoire, which included an extensive variety of song styles.
Every singer in choir has their own motivation for singing. Naturally, the groups consist of singers with diverse musical backgrounds and preferences. Edison Wang ’21 said, “I had already been quite interested in singing before coming to Choate, but I only started taking private voice lessons almost two years ago, when I enrolled as a freshman. I love many kinds of songs, such as Italian operas and pop songs, so at Choate I mainly learn to sing classical music. I also sing pop and Chinese folk songs in my free time.”
Ana Jonke ’19 said, “I wanted to join choir because my old school had one, and I have been singing in choirs since sixth grade. I thought that a choir where it wasn’t just all girls was pretty cool because I went to an all-girls school. There are many more sections I can be a part of in Festival Chorus.”
There are also those who jumped courageously into the new experience of singing in a choir. Serena Sandweiss ’20 said, “I have always been involved in music, as my parents encouraged me to begin playing piano at a young age. However, I only really began to sing here at Choate. I joined Festival Chorus my freshman year, and Ms. Kegel then encouraged me to audition for Chamber.” Joining chorus is a rewarding decision for many students, and each finds their own place and purpose within the groups.
Each singer gains something different from the experience, whether it’s the time dedicated to singing outside of school or the opportunity to cooperate with others. Briannagh Dennehy ’20 said, “I enjoy being around other singers. Music is a great way of connecting with others. Just being able to sing with different voice types allows you to develop listening skills, which I think is very useful for chorus and music outside of chorus as well.”
Preparing for the concert required hard work and great attention to detail, and some parts of the process did not go entirely as expected. Both chorus groups have had to work with different directors during rehearsals, which ultimately
resulted in a cancellation of their winter concert in collaboration with the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra.
Wang said, “This is why the upcoming concert will include both the repertoire we had in winter and the new songs we learned in spring. Although we sometimes seemed to have a little trouble getting used to new rehearsal schedules and different conducting styles, I believe that this concert will be an awesome one and that both the choir and the audience will enjoy it very much.”
Due to holidays and special schedules, rehearsals throughout the year have been inconsistent, so the groups also needed to focus on honing the particular pieces that will make the audience’s experience the best it can be. Wang said, “We took a lot of time fixing problems with tuning, rhythms, [and] dynamics, as well as musical expression. However, the two new conductors, Ms. Octavia McAloon and Dr. Carolina Flores, are extremely passionate and professional, and we are
thankful for their help with handling those challenges.”
Maria Ma ’19 said she felt prepared and loved the variety of selections.“There’s this one piece we all love with a lot of movement and clap rhythm called ‘Turn the World Around,’” she added.
After the concert, Laryssa Gazda ’20 said, “Despite the time crunch we had, the concert sounded really good in the end, so we were proud.”
Chamber and Festival Chorus are small communities in which students who are passionate about singing are able to connect with one another and overcome challenges together to perform masterworks as a group. The riveting final concert of the year was a wonderful success, and the audience left the performance that night feeling inspired and touched by the earnesty of every singer on stage.
