According to senior choir member Ayanna Nathan, singing in the District Vocal Festival this Monday, showed her growth as a singer.

“It was our final District Vocal Festival, so it was very important to the seniors because this is where we can see our progression in choir,” Nathan said. “I started in sixth grade and I remember performing in this concert in my middle school years and thinking how incredible the high school choirs were and how excited I was to be a part of that someday.”

For fellow senior and choir member Zoey Zachek, the finality of this last fall concert, which took place on Oct. 29, was not lost on her either.

“I’ve participated in choir for all four years in high school, and two of my middle school years, so it was just one of the first ‘last’ concerts,” Zachek shared.

Similarly, Park choir teacher and conductor John Myszkowski agreed this concert had a different meaning for seniors than other concerts in the past.

“I think that this is, other than Homecoming, the start of the ‘lasts.’ You know, the last this, the last District Festival, which some of them missed,” Myszkowski said.

According to Myszkowski, this concert continued with their focus on incorporating diverse songs in the program.

“We’ve started the tradition of doing both the “Star Spangled Banner” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, which is in some circles considered the black national anthem. We have both of them, and we have the audience sing along with,” Myszkowski explained. “We change up the song full group does. This year we also did one called ‘A Life of Song.”

According to Nathan, the choir concert’s encompassment of several grades proved to be a rewarding experience.

“It’s always nice to see the younger choirs, especially the sixth graders — they are absolutely adorable — because it shows the high schoolers their humble beginnings and the middle schoolers their potential futures,” Nathan said.

Myszkowski agreed that seeing such a range of grades perform together was a good experience for everyone.

“The upperclassmen especially are a strong foundation for everybody, so the middle schoolers especially depend on them, and our group pulled through,” Myszkowski said. “We do sixth, seventh, eighth, and then varsity choir, concert choir, and park singers. I think it’s good for the audience to see the growth from sixth grade on.”

In agreement with Nathan, Zachek shared getting to see and observe all the new blood felt good to witness.

“It’s cool to see all the upcoming choirs. It’s nice to see that there’s still a large amount of kids participating in choir,” she said.

According to Nathan, this year’s District Vocal Festival was a success.

“It went well, every choir performed well. The directors and parents were happy with the performances of both the individual choirs and our inter-choir numbers,” Nathan said. “I think this concert was a unique reflection time for the seniors.”

The next concert in which all Park choir singers will perform will be at 7 p.m. Dec. 18 in the high school Auditorium.