Cece Easley, Arts & Tech Editor
March is typically a long and cold month, with no breaks or long weekends, spent waiting for the upcoming spring warmth. This year, to break up the cold, the music department will be traveling to Disney for a performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on March 23. The choir, band and orchestra will all have the opportunity to enjoy Disney’s attractions as a group.
The music department took their first trip to Disney to perform in the spring of 2018.
Senior Beatrice Kelly was chosen last year in advance to planning the trip as a travel chair for the choir. “Ms. Gleason picked students for the travel chair position. She chose three students for this position who have ample knowledge of Disney and can provide the group with insight toward a successful trip,” Beatrice said.
Beatrice participates not only in the class as a choir student, but also as a travel officer. The choir classroom has signs that read, “Disney countdown,” building student anticipation. “My main job is to help the trip run smoothly and get students excited about it,” Beatrice said. “We’ve been doing little activities for the classroom and making packing lists for everyone to use. We are organizing the planning process on a day to day basis, like which times we’ll leave the park.”
Students and the teachers who attend the trip are on a tightly packed schedule. “Our trip is being held because there’s a performance event at Disney,” Beatrice said. “We leave on March 23, sing in front of the judges the following day and then the award ceremony is on March 25, then we fly home the next day. In the time in between, we go around Disney to explore and go on rides.”
Choir teacher Sarah Gleason is anticipating another great trip five years after her last trip to Disney. “In 2018 we had a very successful performance, not only outside of our town but well outside of the state as well,” Ms. Gleason said. “The students had a wonderful experience being together, bonding and singing together. It was a really positive experience, and we’re now ready to continue the experience of students connecting in a group and making music together.”
The decision to hold another trip was made after speaking with students in choir, orchestra and band classes. “To prepare for the trip, we began planning a year in advance in the Spring of 2022. We spoke to the students and everyone seemed enthusiastic about carrying out the trip,” Ms. Gleason said.
Once the decision was made, many efforts were made to ensure the trip goes smoothly and is accessible to all. “In advance to the trip, we did a lot of fundraising to make sure that nobody would be held back from attending for financial reasons,” Ms. Gleason said. “We held our annual grapefruit fundraiser which gave students the opportunity to earn individual sales credit to put towards their trip.”
Beyond their yearly grapefruit fundraiser, which is a well-known choir tradition, the music department collaborated for the trip to raise funds. “We did a restaurant fundraiser night where anyone in the New Canaan community could go eat at Gates, Chipotle and Taco Tequila, and then we got a percentage of those sales,” Mrs. Gleason said. “A holiday sing-along was also held where instrumentalists and singers went and sang to parents and children, and money was generated through ticket sales for that event.”
Mrs. Gleason’s favorite memory from the last Disney trip was the performance. It was held in the Walt Disney Concert Hall which was designed to have state of the art acoustics and visuals, seats 2,265 people and houses a variety of musical and theatrical events. “We didn’t realize how formal the event would be,” she said. “We were musically ready to perform, but the formality heightened us as performers to do our very best. To see our group perform under the lights in front of our announcers, and to witness how they’ve all grown as performers was amazing.
In advance of the trip, the choir group has been preparing by working on new music, doing other performances, and locking down the details of the trip. According to Beatrice, the work the group has put in throughout the year, both musically and while creating connections within the choir, makes the challenge of Disney more exciting. “Our focus and time together throughout the year and in past years makes us ready for the trip and helps us to work as a group to do well at our performance,” Beatrice said.
Looking ahead for the music department, the trip will be filled with both the anticipation of performing, excitement of travel, and lots of time together. “The first day of the trip is what I’m most looking forward to because we’re leaving very early and will all be tired, but then when we arrive we will be able to enjoy Disney and make new memories,” Beatrice said. “A lot of the students attending have never experienced Disney so this will be their first trip, and we’ll make sure they’re having a good time and enjoy Disney as much as I know I have.”
Ms. Gleason expects the trip to be eye-opening for her students. “My main goal out of this trip is for students to feel great about their performances, but also to realize that they can challenge themselves. There’s so much more we can do and achieve together,” she said.
