Seniors perform their last first choir performance

Rewon Shimray, Staff Writer
October 24, 2014

 

High school choir practices in the hallway to prepare for the Fall Choir Concert. Last minute rehearsals crowd the halls before every show.

The Fall Concert, last Monday October 20th, launched the choir program for the 2014-2015 school year. For a majority of the senior choir students, this is their fifth or sixth year performing for the choir.

“I started in sixth grade,” said senior Toni Akunebu. “[Now], I am definitely more confident.”

Experience and the support from peers help students overcome their nerves when on stage.

“I actually feel a lot better [with a group rather than alone] because I’m performing with like a bunch of people, so it’s not like they’re all staring at one person which is kind of nice for me,” said senior Isha Patel. “Because it’s a group, everyone helps each other out.”

As a family-geared event, the girls were able to go on stage and look out onto an audience filled with familiar faces.

“Well it is the first concert of the year, so there is this kind of pressure, but not many people are here,” said senior Annalise Irby. “It’s pretty low-key. Like, everyone’s going to support us because they’re all here to see us.”

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Families wait anxiously for the show to begin. Choir members standing on stage look out into the audience with a perspective alike to this.

Choir students hope to diversify and increase the numbers of people that attend their shows. The girls said they have come up with creative ways to promote their program.

“We need to work on our advertisement, because our technique was to wear our choir polos [for school uniform]. That was our plan because, you know, we’re not allowed to do it [because of the dress code], but then Mrs. Jardine cancelled it,” said senior Monica Martinez.

Martinez said the dress-code violation was planned to be a demonstration alike to a “flash mob,” with an overall effect of drawing attention to the choir program. However, it was never carried out due to aforementioned reasons.

The class of 2015 said they have many aspirations for the Ann Richards choir. With several years of experience, the girls said they would like to leave a legacy behind once they graduate.

The sixth grade choir sings in matching uniform. The Fall Choir concert is their first-ever experience performing in for an audience as a group.

“I wish more underclassmen were in our jazz choir. That would be so cool, because then we could pass it on to them, and there wouldn’t be no groups left in one to two years,” said Irby. “We need more younger people.”