When Sophomore Emma Yarger returned from summer vacation, she looked forward to once again participating in choir.

“I feel great about coming back to choir this year,” Yarger said. “I like singing, so it’s exciting.”

Choir teacher John Myszkowski said despite the return of veteran talent like Yarger, the influx of new students into the program requires additional development.

“We have younger guys this year, so it’s a building year at that,” Myszkowski said. “But our sopranos and altos have a lot of returning people, so those sections will still be pretty strong.”

Sophomore choir student Bella Birkeland said the number of upperclassman in the program benefits students.

“It’s going to be better than last year,” Birkeland said. “We were put into a better class, with more upperclassmen.”

According to Myszkowski, students intend to focus on both concerts as well as a potential trip in the spring.

“We have our normal concert schedule, our first one is a district vocal festival in October,” Myszkowski said. “This would also be a tour year, and we are just debating, whether we pick Chicago or New York.”

Myszkowski said fundraising for the trip, regardless of location, is underway.

“We have sold happenings books, we have done a thing called butter braids, we have done coffee, and if we can get enough parent volunteers we may do Yogurt Lab or Panera,” Myszkowski said.

Myszkowski said choir is also in the process of planning a “Sweeney Todd” themed gala in the spring.

“The choir is doing ‘Sweeney Todd’ for their gala production in the end of February beginning of March,” Myszkowski said. “They’ve already watched a concert performance of ‘Sweeney Todd’ with New York Philharmonic and are staging what will likely look similar to that.”

Freshman Patrick Djerf said “Sweeney Todd” presents an unconventional choice for the gala.
“It will be an interesting opportunity for the choir students,” Djerf. “It’s kind of an odd choice of a show, but I think they’ll do great.”