Eva Pace, Reporter
@espcourant
For so many students coming into the high school, the NCHS Choral Program serves as a safe haven from the nerve-wracking rumors of Freshman Friday, difficult classes and raging hormones. Singers at NCHS know that nothing is better than being able to do what you love in the relaxing atmosphere of classroom 239.
The choral program is an umbrella term for the high school choir as well as the Madrigal ensemble. Choir rehearsal meets five blocks out of the eight-day rotation, but singers come in during during two of their free periods for voice lessons as well. The voice lessons range from individual to group lessons, with up to four students in a group. Madrigal ensemble is an extra, more-selective class, in which students receive half a credit per semester.
Sophomore Cassidy Little faced the aforementioned dilemma of coming into a new school and experienced the kind of reprieve Choir can provide. “I was new as a freshman, and didn’t really know a lot of people, so I figured if I did something I loved and was passionate about then I would be able to find friends that I shared common interests with,” Cassidy said. “For me, it was as much a social outlet as it was a class.”
One of the things that makes the choral program so appealing to new students is the “buddy-system” between under and upperclassmen throughout the year. “Your upperclassman mentor helps you with sight-singing and learning newer pieces,” Cassidy said. “They basically lead you through learning the music and making friends in the program.”
The day-to-day schedule in choir rehearsal usually starts off with an activity on the whiteboard, and develops into anything from perfecting pieces that the class has been practicing, to forming small groups with the “buddy-system” pairs to work on duets. “The class is really enjoyable, it’s not something you dread going to, because you know it’s going to be a relaxing and fun class that you’re still learning in,” Cassidy said.
Choral program director and AP Music Theory teacher Sarah Gleason came in this year from Saxe Middle School. “In comparison to all of the middle schools and high schools that I’ve been involved in in Texas, which is where I began teaching, we have an insane amount of talent here, which is partially because we’re blessed that a lot of the kids have the opportunity to take voice lessons,” Ms. Gleason said. “But we also have an incredibly supportive community, something unlike what I’ve seen at other schools”
Senior Ali Deambrosio joined the choral program as a sophomore. She feels that Ms. Gleason has contributed a lot to the program since her move. “She’s a very bubbly person which gets people excited. She also likes to do a wide variety of things, because I think she gets bored easily,” Ali said.
One of the main changes Ms. Gleason made was bringing back the combined band, orchestra, and choir concert, something that the choral program backed out of four years ago. “It was a totally different experience because the music was Broadway-styled and we had very little time to learn it, so it might not have been as precise as we would have had at an independent concert, but the collaboration was an amazing experience,” Ms. Gleason said.
If students participating in Choir want to take their musical experience one step further, they have the opportunity to join the Madrigal ensemble. Not only do students have to try out to join this class, it is also a much smaller group, making it a very different experience. “I would say ‘collaborative’ would be the best word for what makes the Madrigals different; it’s a lot more starting and stopping and experimenting with sounds,” Ms. Gleason said. “The other thing that I think makes it different is that it is everybody in that room wants to make the music as amazing as possible, and they’re all there to become the best musician they can be.”
Ali also is a member of the Madrigals, and has insight on the rehearsal experience from a student’s perspective. “We try to do more challenging music, and in a smaller group you can get more done, so we are also given a lot more options for the music that we get to sing,” she said. “It gives you more responsibility, too, because it’s a smaller group, so you know when someone messes up.”
The choral program has multiple events coming up, following the February collaborative music concert. Ms. Gleason recently applied to Artslam 2016, a yearly art festival at the State Capitol building in Hartford. Five students made the all-state choir this year, so those students will travel for three days to Hartford for a separate event in April. Finally, there will be a choral performance at Six Flags at the end of May. “We’re looking into some other ideas that students have brought up as well, like going over to Saxe and singing, so we’re trying to expand as a program,” Ms. Gleason said.
The Choral Program is expanding to get bigger and better, and Ms. Gleason emphasizes that if a student loves music and thinks Choir might be the place for them, they don’t need to be on the way to Broadway in order to fit in. “Choir is not just for the elite and the best, it is a place where students can develop this instrument that every single one of us has, and you can’t get rid of,” Ms. Gleason said. “It’s unique sort of musical experience in a safe and encouraging environment, which I think everyone needs in high school.”
