The choir at Horizon has at least one concert per quarter, Horizon’s Choir Director Jay Goodmanson states, “But then we also do outside performances, so it ends up being around six to seven performances a year.”
When asked how he decides how many songs each choir will perform per concert, Goodmanson replies that it depends on the length of the pieces and the skill of the students at the time. “Sometimes we start off with a lot and weed it down. Sometimes we add a song if they’re progressing quickly.” Goodmanson adds. On av
erage, the choirs perform around three to four songs per group.
Goodmanson notes that the pieces he gives to each group are based on their skill level and experience singing. For example, he assigns harder songs to the “upper level” students because they can usually pick the songs up quicker and are more focused. When asked if students tend to get off-task during class, Goodmanson responds, “Yes, the younger groups. There is a skill in how to rehearse and stay focused. So, that’s what we work on [the] majority of time, is learning how to rehearse and stay on task.”
Michaela Herrera, a freshman at Horizon who sings in the Jazz II Choir, states that practice time is dependent on which vocal group needs the most practice time with the pianist or the drum and bass
rhythm sections. Before concerts, Herrera states, “Most of the time we have like two or one hours before the concert [to practice].”
Rachel Dawtthachin, a freshman in the Chamber Choir, got the chance to play the piano for one of the songs performed during the Fall Concert. When asked about the experience, Dawtthachin responds, “It was really fun! I really like showing off my extracurricular activities [and] I like showing off my talent.” Dawtthachin proceeds to talk about how playing the piano for the performance also gave her community service hours.
When asked about practice time, Caroline Fantozzi, a sophomore in the Chamber Choir, states that they learn the pieces in class, but that students can also practice outside of class if they need to. Both Dawttachin and Fantozzi utilize their time to practice at home. Dawttachin states that it is very important to do so. Herrera states, “I know that my choir and I like to get together outside of school and practice because it just helps us be more confident and [put] together when we sing.”
According to Fantozzi, memorizing the songs can be easy or hard depending on what type of song they are. Fantozzi says, “It just mostly depends on if you know the song previously, ‘cause sometimes we do songs that you might have known. Like, we do a pop concert in the spring, which is some songs from musicals. Or sometimes it’s in a different language, and it’s very hard to memorize.”
During the choir concerts, all the choirs come together to perform a handful of songs. In regards to the upcoming Winter Concert, on December 9, Fantozzi says that the Chamber Choir will perform four songs. Additionally, all the choirs will perform three group songs together.
