Feel the Burn(s)
At a March 4 solo competition at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School Wahlert had 7 of their students place in the top 10. Competing against over 30 contestants, the following singers placed as follows:
1st Abby Burns
2nd Eric Leigh
3rd Gwenyth McSperrin
5th Maddi Mulgrew
6th Michael Rambousek
7th Owen Borelli
11th Mitchell Walz
21st Noah Burns
With such an impressive outcome, the question is, how do they do it?
Abby Burns, ‘18, says, “For any performance setting I prepare for, I practice in any free time I have when I get home. To prepare the song, what I often do is 3rd line the song, a technique where you write out the song lyrics, but then make the lyrics your own by analyzing every phrase and what it means to you personally. When I focus more on the nature of the song and less on the performance aspect, it eases my mind when I’m actually up on a stage performing.”
This is the second solo competition Burns has competed in this year. In addition to these competitions, Burns also had a solo in Impulse’s show this year.
“For my solo in the show, I took it home, and tried to personalize it in a way that I found most enjoyable. I practiced it at home every week just to keep it fresh in my mind for the next performance. I rehearsed it during show choir practices obviously, but always looked for ways to improve outside practices. I wanted it to sound best when put together with the choir!” says Burns.
Burns belted her way through the season. And as things came to a close, she finally got the recognition she deserved.
