The RBHS choir department hosted their winter concert on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. in the PAC theater.
The three choirs, Bruin Chorale, Advanced Treble Choir and Chamber Choir, all performed a total of 11 songs after about two months of practice, starting right after their last concert in mid-October. Each song was selected by a student in choir as an assignment given to them by their director, Blake Bard. Sophomore Juliette Davis, a choir student in the Advanced Treble Choir, said she enjoyed this opportunity.
“I really like that we [had] the opportunity to work on specifically what we [wanted] to,” Davis said. “I like having the freedom of [getting to pick the songs we sing], but at the same time [Bard] still makes it so that we’re constantly learning something new.”
Once the students submitted songs they wanted to perform, Bard evaluated the options and chose a selection of music to perform for the concert. However, this list has gone through some changes, as Bard said he realized some of the music didn’t sound right.
“The biggest challenge was realizing and making the decision [that] this [song] is not going to work, but there is something better out there for us,” Bard said. “Each of the groups have their own sound and their own abilities [and] some of the music that I picked didn’t fit the group and their dynamics. We tried singing it and realized that some of it was terrible.”
The concert on Tuesday began with the Bruin Chorale performing “Dies Irae,” Pachelbel’s Cannon “Christmas Alleluia” and “Once Upon a December.” Bard said he’s proud of the progress his students have made from the beginning of the school year.
“We’ve made strides from the beginning of the year, because every year that you put a group together, they have to basically start over—start from scratch,” Bard said. “We’ve had fun trying to find our voice.”
Next, the Advanced Treble Choir sang “The Ballad of Witches’ Road,” “Aki to Fuyu,” and “Breath of Heaven.” Junior Lyric McGruder, a student in the Chamber Choir, said she feels the winter concert went really well.
“I think [the concert] went better than I personally expected,” McGruder said. “[I’m looking forward to] improving, getting better, making those dynamics even more drastic and really reaching out to the audience to produce something beautiful.”
After the Treble Choir, the Chamber Choir sang “Spellbound,” “Silent Night” and “Deck That Hall.” McGruder said her favorite song from the concert was “Spellbound,” and she enjoyed performing at the concert.
“I think [“Spellbound” is] our best prepared song and it’s just really beautiful,” McGruder said. “I just love the dynamic changes [and] how powerful this concert was in general.”
“Et in Terra Pax,” the second to last performance, was sung by the Advanced Treble Choir and the Chamber Choir. “Carol of the Bells,” performed by all three choirs, was the last song sung at the winter concert. Davis talked about her favorite part of being in choir.
“I really like that I get to do [choir] with my friends because it’s a class where we get to have fun and laugh,” Davis said. “We also get to see our finishing products, like after a concert where we get to see how we progressed from the last [concert]. I like that you have products you can actually hear.”
Did you enjoy the concert? Let us know down below!
