by Jessica Ham
Music, laughter, joy, and friendship: that’s what choir is. Choir, to me, is the most fun a person can have in their 4 years of high school. You learn fun music with your friends. You make fun of Choir teacher Randy Lepp. You dance at the end of the year for the final concert. You go on trips to far away places. You meet new people. In choir you get to experience things you never would be able to otherwise.
Jessica in her choir dress after a concert earlier this year
I have been in choir all 4 years of high school. My Freshman year I was in the Women’s Choir. I was terrified the first day of that class because I had never sung choral music before. I have been singing all my life but not choral, challenging pieces. But right away Mr. Lepp taught me how to sing in a more professional way and made me feel right at home. The end of my Freshman year I auditioned for Madrigals. I made it and I was overjoyed.
Being in Madrigals is the greatest honor at Reedley High School. The Madrigals is the best of the best performers at RHS so if you make it, you know you are good. It is a huge commitment but it comes with many rewards. You sing with the band, for sporting events, church events, fundraising events, the Street Faire, and many other events. The rewards are exciting trips, missing a lot of school, more fun music for the Spring Concert, bonding time with your peers, and many other exciting things. Some of the best times of my life have been with my Madrigal buddies. This is my 3rd and final year in the RHS Madrigals and I will miss it dearly. I have been a part of the RHS Concert Choir for 3 years now and I will miss it as well.
Now time to break down the concert system. First, around October, is the Fall concert. The Fall concert is always my favorite. We do some serious stuff but it is more fun then our competition stuff. The Fall concert is more for the director then the audience. It allows Mr. Lepp to really see how the group is going to do the rest of the year and what our strengths and weaknesses are. The Christmas concert is really just for show. We perform some upbeat and some classic Christmas songs. And the Madrigals usually do some cute choreography to a Christmas medley.
The Pre-Festival concert is a chance for the audience to give us their input on our music for competitions. If it works then we will go on to perform these pieces at competitions.
The Spring concert is the best one by far. It is a huge show with lights, choreography, and costumes. We do modern and classic pop and rock songs. Our Spring Concert for this year is May 25, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Reedley High School Performing Arts Theater. If you miss out, you will be truly sorry.
Choir is the best time of your life. I sincerely recommend you join before it’s too late!
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