Since the beginning of the year, choir has been rehearsing for their fall and winter shows

On Thursday, October 19, the choir groups will be performing a combined concert with River Bend Middle School. Each high school choir will do one piece and the middle school students will be doing two pieces before the students all come together to perform “I Sing Out” for their finale.

“What’s fun about it is that you get to see just a little bit of everything… We will put everyone up on stage, all 300 or 400 of us, for a big finale song, so it should be very exciting and fast moving,” said choir teacher Fawn Phillips.

The four choirs this year include Cantante Choir, Jazz Choir, Panther Voices Show Choir, and Panthera A Cappella Ensemble. They all learn different pieces and techniques when they are in class, but in the end, they all come together and perform at the concerts.

“So far, Jazz Choir has been really good. We’re overall a good bunch of people. We have a good blend together; our voices seem to work well together and Ms. Phillips is a great teacher,” said sophomore Seraphim Gustilo, a new Jazz Choir member. “She knows what to do to help us out and she knows what she’s doing as a teacher.”

Some of the pieces at the combined concert include ancient love poetry from the Hebrew tradition, an arrangement of “Unforgettable” told from the 1950s which features a couple of soloists, and a Stray Cats’ song, “Rock This Town.”

“Whenever I pick music, I always pick something that I would want sing too. I mean, I want it to be fun and interesting, but I also look at it and go ‘is this going to be something that touches the audience when we do it?’ Because we want to, more than anything else, we want to connect emotionally with our audience,” said Phillips. “We want them to feel happy or sad or whatever emotion the song is conveying, so I’m always looking for songs that have the ability to touch people’s emotions.”

Another important event for chorus that is quickly approaching is their performance at the homecoming football game on October 27. Following that is their winter concert on December 7 held in the school’s auditorium. The choirs have been preparing for these performances since the school year begun.

“So far this year, choir has been really exciting. I love our voices together; it sounds very pretty altogether. I’m really excited about what’s about to come the rest of the year,” said freshman Shikriti Ghosh.

Mark your calendars for their two upcoming concerts on October 19 and December 7 at 7 pm in the auditorium.