It’s a new school year, new choir.

Choir kicked off its first public performance of the school year with a concert full of both elegant and light hearted pieces.

Choir followed suit of their usual routine for the concert. Around an hour in length, three groups performed, impressing audiences. Both the choir director Carrie Gary and the performers were happy with how the first concert went.

All choir students had been practicing for this concert since the first day of school. Everyday, students worked with fellow members of choir to memorize the selected songs, and perfect their technique. Most students felt that they were well prepared come concert time.

The concert was held at St. Francis Xavier Catholic church on Monday, Oct. 23 and started promptly at 7 p.m.

Many noted the good turnout for the crowd, as parents, choir alumni, various family members, and teachers were eager to hear what the students had been working on. “I always tell students they should be proud of their work and invite their family to hear, so I’m glad they did,” said Gary.

The crowd had a lot to look forward to, as concert choir, advanced choir, and vocal technique all had a chance to shine. Concert choir took the stage first, singing three different songs: Why We Sing, Praise the Lord, and El Vito. As bigger group they varied in singing style, so some students got the chance for a small solo during the song.

After concert choir, Gary’s vocal technique class had three students sing solos. Claire Carney, Brittany Hopper and Joey Byrd all sung a different piece.

Gary only has around five students in her vocal technique class, so the soloists were well prepared, as she had diligent time to work with each student up until the concert tweaking small details and perfecting each student’s technique.

Then, advanced choir sung four songs, ranging in style, tempo, and genre. Among one of the four songs was their audition song for state, a German lideur. They also took the chance to break out their beatboxing skills, with a beatboxing feature from Brendan Dougas in their first song.

The next day, students were able to go back and listen to a recording of the performance and reflect on it. “I was really happy with how we sounded,” said sophomore Beth Woods. Junior Hayley Grether noted that she and others were overall content with the performance because the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

Gary didn’t have a lot to say during the performance herself, leaving it up to the students to do the vocalizing. “I don’t like talking, so that’s why you have so many notes in your program,” said Gary. Gary did take a moment, however, to talk about the importance of this concert. “Take this hour to enjoy some singing, and forget what’s bad in the world.”

Gary also had nothing but positive things to say about the performance. “They did better than I expected,” said Gary. She was especially nervous with the concert being on a Monday, as it gives students a whole weekend to forget crucial tricks and memorization, but she was thoroughly impressed with how it went. Gary was especially impressed with the choirs blend, saying that advanced choir’s blend was one of the best she had ever had in a group.

As for next time, Gary has even higher hopes. She believes that the first concert is a bit of a learning curve, especially for concert choir, where three-fourths of the members are freshman and it’s their first concert. She hopes for comfort levels to grow stronger and better formation while singing.

Students are especially excited for the next choir concert, as it’s themed around a lot of students favorite time of the year, Christmas. Many want to improve for the next concert by focusing on the small details, and learning songs they are unfamiliar to for some variety. “Christmas is always the best concert,” said Woods.

The next concert is scheduled for Monday Dec. 11. It will be held at St. Francis Xavier Church.