On Dec. 15, Park’s Concert Choir took the stage for their annual winter concert. The performance showcased the students’ hard work over the last semester and featured a variety of genres and media, including kazoos, percussion and a brief partner dance number.

According to sophomore choir student Natalie Hall, the concert was a great success for all participants. Hall said she was pleased with the effect of many of the musical elements and admired the performances of other vocal groups.

“I was very happy with the overall result of the concert,” Hall said. “Our dynamics and harmonies were very good, and I was impressed with all of the other sections and how well they did.”

Choir teacher Steve Mollick said there are various elements to fine-tune when preparing for a performance. Mollick said he follows a systematic process when working with his students to progressively build their skills.

“The most important thing is pitching and rhythm and getting that locked down,” Mollick said. “Then it’s starting to shape phrasing – Are we pronouncing text clearly together? Are we precise? That kind of stuff.”

Senior choir student Bailey Schneeberg said the most challenging song performed at the concert was “Swifter than Flame” by Elaine Hagenberg. She said the song featured a range of complex melodies and rhythms that the choir found difficult to master.

“The most challenging song we sang was ‘Swifter Than Flame’ by Elaine Hagenberg because it has a wide range of notes and some complicated rhythms that took some time to work out.”

Hall said it’s difficult for the audience to understand just how much work goes into accomplishing harmony in a choir. She said there are so many different parts with separate melodies, and one of the toughest tasks for a choir student is understanding their part within a larger group.

“A lot of people don’t realise how hard it is to focus on all the parts and how they weave together as one,” Hall said. “It’s very difficult to perfect that, especially for altos or tenors that don’t have the same melodies.”

Mollick said when he chooses the songs his students will perform, he considers many factors to create a well-rounded program. According to Mollick, it’s important to offer a wide range of melodies and rhythms to keep the audience engaged.

“When I’m choosing songs for a concert, I always look for a wide diversity of music,” Mollick said. “Especially with different languages, different styles, tempos — that kind of stuff.”

Hall said her favorite part of participating in choir is the sense of unity it creates. She said on stage, individuals are transformed into a cohesive ensemble, which wouldn’t be possible without the contribution of every single member.

Schneeberg said that although the concert went extremely well, some elements of the performance could have benefited from additional preparation. She said including additional instruments and accompanists could have made the performance even more engaging had they had more time to practice with them.

“It would have been nice to prepare a couple more times with the musicians, since we just added them today,” Schneeberg said. “But I still think it went really, really well.”

Mollick said he really enjoyed working with this group of choir students. He said they have a unique ability to bring a great deal of positivity and excitement to the choir atmosphere, making mundane rehearsals much more entertaining.

“(The choir students) are really fun, and they bring a ton of energy every day, even when maybe they don’t want to,” Mollick said. “They are always bouncing off the walls by the time rehearsals are over.”

According to Hall, the singers will be getting back to work to prepare for upcoming events. He said this will include a musical to be performed in the spring and a concert in June.

“Next up, we have our spring musical for choir, which is going to be very fun, although we don’t know what it is yet,” Hall said. “And then we have a concert in June.”