One of my favorite choir events of the school year is district honors choir. Auditions are held for students in the district (which includes ALL of Las Vegas and ALL of Henderson -- it is a huge school district!) and a select few (roughly 180 - about half of all who audition) make the cut. A rigorous practice schedule follows for 2 1/2 weeks and then, boom! They perform a set of amazing, technical, beautiful numbers and we are all wowed by what they are able to accomplish in such a short time! It's a lot of work, but the short time frame and the resulting concert makes every drive through rush hour traffic to practices at a high school across town well worth it!
Conner loves honor choir because everyone who participates is serious about choir and understands the honor in being there. This means that all the energy that is often spent in high school choir class just to get everyone to stop talking & focus is directed, rather, to learning the music and learning it well. What a novel idea!
Lucky for us, Conner has made it into this choir for the past 6 years (2 years in middle school and 4 years in high school). We were looking forward to this performance because we know that they give a special award of recognition to the seniors who made it into honor choir all 4 years of high school.
It was so fun to hear his name called and watch him walk across the stage to receive a medal along with a handful of other seniors.
Here they are raising their hands to show that they were in honor choir for 6 years. The girl on the end is the only one who has been in honor choir for 7 years.
So so fun!
We have really enjoyed Conner's choir journey over the past 7 years. He started his freshman year as a tenor and by the end of the year was a baritone and come his sophomore year he was a solid Bass. He has been a section leader and this year he is choir co-president. There are concerts, festivals, caroling at Christmas time (so much caroling), and this year they are taking a trip to San Francisco!
These choir concerts are always a real treat and we are going to look forward to and savor every single one this year!
So proud of him!
This concert was an extra special treat because
- It was held at the gorgeous Smith Center! It is usually held at a performing hall at UNLV. The acoustics in the Smith Center are just phenomenal.
- The guest conductor was Dr. Ronald Staheli from BYU! We are quite familiar with the choral department at BYU -- Scott sang with the Men's Chorus, I dated a guy who was in the BYU Singers, and we have several more friends who sang with and studied under these music directors. For Conner to have the opportunity to sing under Dr. Staheli . . . that is a very special thing. He is very lucky!
Below I'm sharing a video with highlights from the night. It begins with Conner receiving his award, followed by my 2 favorite numbers of the night. And then a few more. Enjoy!
- Behold, God The Lord Passed By (Elijah) . . . Felix Mendelssohn
- Reap What You Sow . . . Pepper Choplin
- Whither Goest Thou, Pilgrim Stranger . . . Two American Hymns, arr. Dr. Ronald Staheli
- Vinea Mea Electa . . . Francis Poulenc
