LHS Winter Choir Concert

Written by: Emily Koehler ('29)

The performance by the Lawrence High School choir was an unforgettable experience for all. The choir's determination and perseverance throughout these difficult songs were very well received at the concert. The concert welcomed all choir members featuring the Concert Choir, Vox, Bella Voche, Madrigal, and many LHS alumni. Our choir teacher, Ms. Mandy Johnson, did a fabulous job bringing these songs to light and played close attention to all vocal ranges.  We want to thank everyone for supporting the LHS Choir Concert. 

To get a sense of how the concert went for our LHS choir members, we asked some of our freshman additions a few questions to learn about their experience:

1. How do you think the concert went overall?

2. How did you guys work with other choir members?

3. Are there any rehearsal habits that you do outside of class?

4. What song do you think was the most enjoyable to sing?

Emily Koehler (Concert Choir, Class of ‘29)

“I think the concert went very well overall and the effort was felt throughout the concert between all choirs. We worked with other choir members during our sectionals as well as during our classes. We also worked with other choirs through joint practices as well. Some rehearsal habits that I personally do outside of class are practicing for about 10-15 minutes per day as well as looking over my sheet music to get my pitch perfect. My favorite song to perform was definitely Carol of the Bells because everyone felt like they were together and it was very angelic.” 

Mzati Muwalo (Vox, Class of ‘29)

“The concert was amazing. You can see the effort each choir put in the few months they had in order to perfect their skill. We worked with the other choirs through joint practices and sectionals which were held once a week. Practicing for about 10 to 30 minutes in my free time is the only thing that I do to perfect my skill. The song which was most exciting to perform was Stand By Me because of the energy we presented during the performance, though I am biased because it was my choir's solo, which I think we presented very well in the concert. It was also one of my favorites because of the connection we had with the audience during swaying, snapping and clapping.” 

Norah Schmidt (Madrigal, Class of ‘29)

 “I think the concert was awesome! It was amazing to see all the choirs and to show off our songs after hours of practicing and perfecting them. It was definitely a great way to kick off the December and holiday season. I think we all worked really well together. There were some certain songs where some choir members, including me, had to mix in with other choirs, and from what I saw we all blended wonderfully and got right to work. During the dress rehearsal and the concert everyone was supportive and, all in all, wonderful company and performers.I know for me and my rehearsal habits, I gained a lot form this year specifically, especially since Ms. Johnson has started teaching and conducting me. She's taught me to listen for other sections, which requires lots of concentration and I think I translate that into being more in tune to my surroundings outside of choir. For the Madrigal choir, we were definitely most excited to perform Sleep. It was an amazing song when we first listened to it and  knew right away we wanted to add it to our repertoire. We worked tirelessly on it and we all think it really showed.” 

Sofia Cevera (BellaVoche, Class of ‘29) 

“I think the concert went pretty well. We sang as loud and best as we could. If someone was off key, we would try and match pitches to make it sound accurate and pretty. I sing a lot of the songs we learned when I do chores, talk to friends, or just need to practice. Additionally, I like to put my best effort into lessons with others' voice levels to try to get the best sound, which definitely paid off during the concert.”