Upon returning from a five day long trip down to Los Angeles, these four talented choirs came home with eight Superior awards and handfuls of great memories.
Fifty-eight students and chaperones traveled down to Los Angeles on April 9th, returning home late on April 13th. Thursday, April 10th, the choir made a stop at The Master’s College to work with Dr. Paul Pleu, the head of the department of music. He gave all four choirs very valuable critiques that helped improve their performances the following day.
The first festival, Festival of Music, was held in Santa Ana at a public school. All four choirs competed, singing a variety of songs ranging from classic hymns to Nigerian gospel and jazz numbers. All four choirs received Superior/Gold ratings and the “Best Overall High School Program” award.
The Chamber Choir competed in the second festival “Music in the Parks” and received a Gold rating and second place by just 1 point to Palos Verdes High School. Our Chamber Choir was competing with schools whose student body consisted of over 1000 students. This was quite an accomplishment for our choir, coming from a school much smaller than its competitors. A special congratulations to Regan McLane, senior and first soprano, who won “Best Overall High School Soloist” not once, but twice!
Sunday, on the long trip home, the choir made a stop at Forest Lawn to see a stained glass replica of the Last Supper and then visited the Hall of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Both were absolutely incredible sights to see. Before departing, the choir sang in the cathedral of the Hall of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. The acoustics of the cathedral left our sound hanging in the air, creating goosebumps on most of us.
This article wouldn’t be complete with mentioning the great time everyone had at Disneyland!!
Overall, the trip was a wonderful experience full of learning, camaraderie, and good ‘ole fun. Thank you so much to all who helped organize the trip, and all those who assisted us financially. Thank you also to Evelyn Robinson, our choir director for all her hard work. God has truly blessed our school with an incredible music program.