By: Jack Miller
On Jan. 13, six of our own QV students were honored with the privilege to perform with 180 other talented students from a variety of school districts in a concert featuring pieces that spanned many generations and genres. The music was complex, the schedule was rigorous, but the end product was a staggering culmination of determination and passion. Spanning African American spirituals to foreign language pieces, even touching upon the work of the Harlem Renaissance, these students conquered all while cultivating a gorgeous musical experience. But the road to reach this point was not easy.
To audition for District Choir, one must prepare two choral pieces of the administration’s choosing on their own and audition with portions of them, not knowing the section beforehand. This takes a lot of skill and practice outside of school, forcing many to set time aside from their very busy schedules to prepare these challenging songs. There is a sight reading portion of the audition, which can be challenging for many because it is very difficult to look at dots on a paper and sing a melody with only a starting pitch.
As was mentioned before, there were six students who were admitted to District Choir this year: Milo Hasak (Senior), Dustin/Shawna Smith (senior), Anna Dusch (Junior), Keira Cowher (Sophomore), Jack Miller (Sophomore), and Louisa Webster (Sophomore).
In addition to the two pieces these students needed to learn for District auditions, they were given five others that they needed to prepare on their own in preparation for the concert and auditions for Region Choir (the next step in the PMEA choral journey).
The most exciting part about the experience was “singing with so many incredibly musical people,” says Senior Amelia Klinar of Canon McMillan School District. This was her first year participating in the festival, encouraged by her choir teacher and convinced by her friends (who had discussed how fun the event had been in the past). She said she really appreciated the ability to sing with a really great group of people and “[loved] how supportive everyone was”.
After two days of rehearsal at Thomas Jefferson High School and hours of drilling chilling harmonies and dissecting lilting lyrics, the anticipation of everyone in that auditorium was palpable. The incomparable Ms. Christine Hestwood, the guest conductor at the concert, had a few surprises up her sleeve. Not only did she let one student conduct one of the main arrangements at the concert, but also included an interlude of beatboxing to break up the more classical sections of the festival. “It was really fun,” says Cooper Bruce, a junior at South Fayette High School, who was featured in this beatboxing solo. Bruce gravitated towards the more upbeat pieces of the concert and really relished the freedom he was granted in these unexpected places.
The concert was a smashing success, and everyone involved agrees that it was an invaluable experience. However, for three of our students, the journey is not quite over. Hasak, Smith, and Webster were admitted to Region Choir, meaning they needed to learn more, very challenging music in preparation for their concert on the 24th of February and auditions for the chance to participate in the States festival (a very prestigious honor, one a QV student has yet to achieve). Will this year be the first we see one of our very own perform at States? We can only wait and see. Nevertheless, we wish these three musicians good luck and congratulate them on an amazing success.
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