Featured image credit: Sarah Gleason
Bella DeVito, Reporter
@BDeVitoCourant
It might be unexpected for students to hear the choir’s performance of a piece titled ‘Haitian Creole’ ringing through the school hallways. It might be even less likely to hear the band practicing a song called ‘The Chicken’ in the auditorium. However, students should get accustomed to the country music genre, as the music department has practiced tirelessly to perfect their playing and do the southern theme justice. Every two years, the NCHS music department takes a special trip to a place of major cultural and musical significance. This year, on April 10, they traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, a city so renowned for its vibrant country music scene that it’s dubbed the “Music City”. In addition to immersing students in a new culture, the music department used the trip to strengthen bonds among students and gain new perspectives of music.
Choir teacher Sarah Gleason recounts the purpose behind the music department’s trip to Nashville. “Music ensembles are similar to sports teams in that the relationship of the people that are a part of them makes a difference in the product that you get,” Ms. Gleason said. “Spending time together outside of school and bonding as musicians helps us to perform better.”
The music department also got the opportunity to practice their music under a new perspective. “We worked with the choir, band and orchestra conductors at Vanderbilt University with our groups,” Ms. Gleason said. “It ended up being a different sort of learning trip because we got to take pieces that we were still working on and get new ideas and perspectives behind them.”
Band teacher Barry Zhou prepared for the trip by having students practice music that tied back to the Tennessee region. “Leading up to the trip, we began a song called Shenandoah, which is a fun Appalachian folk song about a river,” Mr. Zhou said. “Nashville is famous for its hot chicken, so we played a piece called ‘The Chicken’. We were able to continue working on those pieces during the trip, and it was really cool to play music that connected to the area.”
The music department did many activities that tied back to Nashville’s lively culture. “We visited the country music hall of fame and recorded a song in historic RCA Studio B,” Ms. Gleason said. “I purposely chose a song that was recorded in RCA Studio B by The Highwomen, a group of four female country artists led by Brandy Carlisle. We played a choral arrangement of their song, ‘Crowded Table’.”
Photos contributed by Sarah Gleason.
Students and teachers did much more than playing music. “On Friday night we went to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, which is the most historic venue of country music,” Ms. Gleason said. “It was really interesting because we listened to many performers whose names we didn’t know, but recognized the songs they wrote.”
Senior choir student Thomas Pisant recounted his favorite part of the trip. “Activity wise, the Grand Ole Opry was my favorite,” Thomas said. “I also liked hanging out with friends during times of the day where I wouldn’t normally hang out with them.”
“On the final night, we went to a big dance hall with lots of country music and line dancing.” Ms. Gleason said. “Everybody was dancing like crazy people; it was the great equalizer of those who can dance and those who can’t.”
Sophomore choir student Tessa Madden also shared her experience. “The line dancing at Category Ten was definitely my favorite part,” Tessa said. “At first it was a little disorienting because there was a live band onstage and people seemed to know the dances beforehand. There was a guy there who was teaching the dances as we went, so by the end of each song everyone knew what they were doing.”
“By the end of the trip, everyone had an appreciation for Nashville as a great music city even if it’s not their favorite type of music,” Ms. Gleason said. “We were surrounded by lots of country music, and we all danced and sang along together and got the full Nashville experience.”
