T

he HHS Choir held their first concert of the year, performing for parents and friends in the cafeteria last Thursday. Since the first day of school, the students have been working hard to perfect their songs and were finally able to show off their talent.

HHS Choir is composed of four smaller groups which are based on student level. Junior Gloria Selvaraj has been in choir for two years and is currently in the A Choir, also known as Concert Choir.

“Treble Choir is starting choir [with] freshman girls and some sophomore girls if they didn’t do choir before. A Choir is one level above that and it combines guys and girls. Above A Choir is Chamber, and they sometimes have all girls, [but] this year they combined [with boys],” Selvaraj said.

At the concert, the Treble Choir sang three songs, including “Taylor The Latte Boy,” written by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich and arranged by Mac Huff. The song detailed the musicians’ experience with a barista at Starbucks and is widely known for being performed by Kristin Chenoweth in her 2005 studio album As I Am. Other songs included “Heart We Will Forget Him” by Laura Farnell and “Minoi Minoi”, arranged by Christopher Marshall.

Following Treble Choir was Concert Choir, which sang “Dreams of These” by Eric William Barnum and “Fiddler of Dooney” by Daniel Hall. Senior Skyler Colwell, who has been in choir for two years and was in his elementary school choir, expected that the concert would be their best performance yet.

“[We’ve been preparing] since the beginning of the school year,” Colwell said. “[The retreat in September] allowed us to practice the songs there, though it was more of getting to know the people in choir than learning the songs, but we definitely spent a lot of time on them.”

Jazz Choir performed next, consisting of 14 students who dedicate themselves to practicing together after school on Fridays. This performance had some members of the Jazz Band assist, playing the songs “L-O-V-E” and “Softly” by Kirby Shaw in the background.

The last individual choir to perform was Chamber Choir, the most advanced level in HHS Choir. Many soloists showcased their talents during the songs “When David Heard” by Thomas Weelkes and “Wade in the Water” by Kirby Shaw, including Seniors Olivia Nolin, Kylie Sherman and Chelsey Nguyen.

Junior Allison Rossel, who has been in choir since her freshman year, frequently plays a role in the HHS Fall and Spring plays. This has proven to be a challenge when balancing her acting life with her position as an officer of Chamber Choir.

“Some challenges we face are that you have to take your time to learn the words and the songs,” Rossel said. “If people don’t devote themselves to that, then we don’t sound the greatest. I also have a conflict with the concert and drama, so I have to manage that as well.”

Finally, the concert wrapped up with the entire choir performing to the song “Sweet Dreams,” an 80s song originally performed by the Eurythmics. As the audience applauded and whooped, the choir took their final bow, before proceeding to the potluck that awaited them.

The whole while, the passion of Jeffrey Morton, the choir and AP Music Theory teacher at HHS, could be seen through his energetic conduction of the concert. Having previously been a band teacher in Houston, he said he followed what he was more passionate about by choosing to focus on choir.

“Band fit that school, but … I wanted to get back into what I was most passionate about. I’ve always loved choral music, and it’s making music as opposed to just thinking about it,” Morton said. “We did a lot at the retreat that involved having everybody sing pieces. The retreat was the biggest group we had ever worked with so far, so in the concert we combined all the choirs for one of the songs we did … I was very pleased … and everyone performed really well.”

Next up for choir is the Winter Concert, which w

ill be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30, and the Winter Jazz Concert on Thursday, Dec. 1.

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