Winter Choral Concert Takes the Stage

With the Winter Choral Concert almost here, the spotlight is turning toward Douglas Anderson’s talented Vocal Department, and all their recent efforts to prepare and practice for the show, which features all the ensembles at DA: Chorale, Chamber Singers, Treble Choir, Men’s Chorale, Eclipse, and Silhouettes. The preparation period for one concert often starts as soon as the previous concert is finished, filling all the time between each show with the process of designing and perfecting the next performance to come. It’s a community effort for the department—every part of the ensemble must work together to play their parts in the piece, and the teachers play key roles as conductors, directors, and designers deciding which songs to play in the show. 

“Our teachers select pieces depending on the time of year and the sound that each choir makes,” says Noah Cummings, a senior in Chamber and Men’s Chorale. “We get some say in the pieces such as suggesting and listening and giving our input, but it’s usually up to the director. But they always make great selections!”  

Noah Cummings rehearses along with the rest of his Men's Chorale ensemble.

By choosing based on both time of year and the specialties of the performers involved, a balanced and relevant setlist is curated for the concert. “So, all of our ensembles have different voicings and different skill levels, and so we have to take into consideration those two things first. So that’s where we start,” says the Chair of the Vocal Department, Holly Hammond. “I always try to have at least one foreign language piece on a program, if not more than that. [And] we try to pick things that represent different time periods. And then diversity of beliefs as well. We always ask: Does it have the voice parts that we need? Is it too hard or is it too easy? Is it the right style? Do I have representation?” 

Department Chair Holly

Hammond plays a vital role

in directing Choral concert

preparations.

Practice, as with most skills and arts, is the most important thing in preparing for the concert. 10th grader in Chamber and Eclipse, Allie Crumley, says, “A lot of my time is spent practicing music whether that be just looking at my scores, studying performers, or physically singing different pieces. Surrounding yourself with world class musicians is a wonderful way to study.” Not only regularly practicing the pieces aloud, but also studying the theory behind them or simply being immersed in the sounds of the music and performers, allows for a deeper understanding of and familiarity with the songs to be performed on stage. 

Though the hard work never stops all throughout the year, in particular the last few weeks leading up to the concert are the most intensive when it comes to practice periods and regular preparation efforts. Practice makes perfect, and repetition makes effective practice; pieces are often performed again and again just to ensure they are as polished as can be before their performance. 

“Classes before performance are very stressful and very jam-packed. We just rehearse and rehearse non-stop, and polish our pieces and add cool elements if we’ve prepared a piece well enough,” says Myelle Williams, a 12th grader in Eclipse and Chorale, “but if not, we mainly just grind through rehearsals and make sure everyone knows their notes, lyrics, and rhythms, and polish it as we rehearse. Concert days are always different from a non-concert day because everyone is on edge. The vocal suite is always crowded on concert days because everyone wants to make sure they have their parts learned.” 

The Chorale ensemble rehearses in the last few days before the Winter Concert.

| Photo by Elizabeth Booker

“For the most part, because our ensembles are so large, stage fright isn't a huge issue,” says Department Chair Hammond. “Now, when we get into our smaller ensembles, they might get a little bit more nervous about, ‘Uh-oh, am I going to stick out? Are people going to be able to hear me? What if I sing a wrong note?’ So, stage fright might come into play because there's a higher level of accountability for each individual student.”  

But there is support found even just within the process of preparing for the show. After all, some of the most effective reassurance to anxiety can be found simply from preparing further. The highs and lows of performance themselves are considered a part of the vocal art, and knowing how to take on the situation is considered one of the field’s skills to be learned: “Part of vocal tech is to prepare students to be in choral ensembles,” Hammond explains. “They learn better singing technique, they learn about stage fright and how to overcome stuff like that. But really the ultimate goal is they should be so prepared that a hurricane could literally be happening around them and they could still sing their part. And that's why some of our ensembles rehearse every day.” 

The intensive effort, even as it leads to just one big night of performing, turns over quite the reward for the performers in the end. “I really enjoy applause,” says Williams. “That sounds so cliché, but the fact that my performance is able to bring a smile to someone’s face just makes me feel whole… knowing that someone appreciates my craft and enjoys whatever I do—it just makes me so happy.” 

Come see the choirs perform on Friday, December 15th at 7:00pm in the DuBow Theatre! Tickets are on sale at On The Stage, students enter free with an ID.