On the grind. Luci LaViolette, sophomore, and Aubrey Carter and Lucy Forest, juniors, practice songs during lunch to prepare for the choir concert. Some choir students practiced outside of class, alongside scheduled rehearsals. Finola Cleveland, senior, is the president of the symphonic choir. Cleveland has noticed the work that the choir has put in this year. “The music this fall is really difficult for a lot of the groups,” Cleveland said. “We’re working really, really hard to get our repertoire in good shape for the concert.”

Behind the scenes. Members of the symphonic choir listen as their teacher, Anna Kubitschek gives directions. This is Kubitschek’s first year working at the school. “I thought It was fun to work with new students,” Kubitschek said. “It took a little bit longer to figure out where they are because I don’t know their voices as well. But I think in the end, they did a really good job.”

Mic’d up. A cappella group, fresh pitch, opens the show. Alexa Zehnbacht, senior, leads the group in this section of the River by Bishop Briggs. Zehnbacht has been taking choir for 7 years. “I think fresh pitch is really fun,” Zehnbacht said. “I’m really glad I joined [choir] because I feel so close to everyone I’m singing with since there’s just so little of us. Getting up in the morning sucks but honestly, I don’t even mind it anymore because I really like fresh pitch.”

Keeping a strong bass. The bass section of fresh pitch is made up entirely of seniors. Mason Nuttbrock is the bass section leader and has been doing choir since he was a sophomore. “As a senior, I feel really confident in my position,” Nuttbrock said. “And I understand the people I’m working with, which is a lot better than I could have said last year.”

Introducing new faces. The bella forte choir is a non-audition treble choir for soprano and alto singers–for female freshmen. Emma Goldberg is in bella forte and is a soloist. “I just love like hanging out with my friends making new friends and I love the choir community itself,” Goldberg said.

Putting it all together. The final song of the concert included members of every choir class, Which included singers of all grades. Sofia Gomez, senior, had one of the solo parts for the song, “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers. “Everybody really wants to make music and bring people joy through their music,” Gomez said. “So I think passion is definitely a good word to describe us all.”

Continuing to grow. Choir students smile as they sing their final song of the concert, “Lovely Day.” Finola Cleveland, senior, has been in choir since middle school. “I hope that our choir program can grow a lot in the next couple of years and I hope that if we can kind of get more exposure this year that more people opt to join our choir program,” Cleveland said. “It’s such a wonderful place. Such a wonderful group of people.”

Building on traditions. Post-performance traditions can be found in several of the different choir sections. Lucille Clemo, senior, decided to take a tradition and modify it. “The basses have always [eaten at Buffalo Wild Wings after choir concerts] and excluded the sopranos and altos,” Clemo said. “We decided to take it into our own hands this year because we wanted to have a tradition that everybody can do. So we joined in and came to Buffalo Wild Wings when everyone else would, and we got there first.”