Did you go to the choir concert on March 10th at Wahlert? Well, if you missed it, then shame on you! You may ask, “Why? What’s the big deal?”
You missed “roughly 150 students that are in choir this semester, plus ACAP choir, boys choir, girls’ choir, the band, and a few other smaller instrumental ensembles,” says Mr. Aaron Behnke, vocal music instructor.

Before the concert, Behnke revealed that for this concert, all sacred pieces would be performed. Even though they have had many snow days taking away their time for practicing their songs, Behnke still had faith in everyone.

“I want to find things with correct voice parts that doable for us. With that said, snow days meant I had to adjust some of the songs I planned on doing and simplify things a bit to make it all doable in fewer rehearsals,” said Behnke.

While there are about 150 students in both choir and band, Ella Schmidt, ‘21, in women’s choir says, “I took choir because I love to sing. Being able to be a part of a group that shares this passion is really fun for me. It gives me a sense of happiness during the day because I love singing so much.  I also  love being around people that share my passion for music.”

You may be wondering, “What do they sing anyway?”
Katie Link, ‘19, shared, “My favorite song that we are singing is ‘Baba Vetu’. This song is kind of challenging because it is in a different language, but it was still really fun to learn and fun to sing!”

So what makes choir so special ?

It is important to showcase what we have learned because we have taken time to learn songs and harmonies that can be really difficult. It shows our skills to our families and lets them know that it is a beneficial class that we are improving our voices in,” said Schmidt.
Link added, “One of the things I like about our choir concerts is watching all of the other choirs singing their songs during practice and then getting to perform them in front of our friends and family.”
Macie Huntington, ‘22, explained how the women’s choir prepares for a concert.

“We first warm up together, then Behnke goes through each of our parts, and then we sing the song a couple of times.”

With the Winter Concert  being the second to last concert, that has many seniors thinking about pursuing the arts in college.  Link, who has been in choir all four years of high school, says that she is planning on singing in the choir when she attends college at St. Ambrose.

“I think that as I got older the songs have gotten a little bit more challenging but they are still really fun to sing!!” she says.

Although this is only Huntington’s first year performing in the choir at Wahlert, she is equally as excited about the concerts as Link and Schmidt are.

“I took choir the past three years at Mazzuchelli and I really liked it so I wanted to continue doing it,” says Huntington.

If you are looking for a way to get rid of that shame for not going to this past concert, the next concert is  May 10.