Gratitude

I come from an incredibly small school in the-middle-of-nowhere-Maine, and though I love the community I grew up in, it did have some drawbacks, especially where the arts were concerned. My high school choir was, at most, thirty girls, it was almost only girls because singing was considered a “feminine thing” and any guys who joined would be made fun of. The choir members we did have though were dedicated and preserved despite switching directors multiple times throughout highschool and never being taken seriously by other choirs in the state. Despite everything, my experience in  high school choir was a positive one, if anything it makes me appreciate the college choir that much more.

Singing in our first concert of the year two weeks ago, I was again struck by an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be able to be a part of such a talented and hard working group. After going through high school with an all girls choir having, a base, a baritone, and a tenor section is thrilling, it adds another level to the music. The music itself is so much more complex than any of the songs I sang in high school and I love the challenge of learning the pieces. It is also incredible to me that so little of the time is spent going over notes and section parts, we focus so much on dynamics, tone, vowel pronunciation, and  perfecting seemingly small parts of the song which  lead to it resonating with the audience. During our concert I think this really became apparent. So many people expressed their admiration for the level of professionalism the choir had and the emotion we portrayed through the music. My parents were left speechless, unable to choose a piece they enjoyed the most because they loved each song and felt they were all executed well.

I know that we have had some difficulties this semester due to conflicting schedules and a seemingly short number of rehearsals to prepare for the concert. However, our performance was strong and has left me excited for our future concerts. I feel as a group we can only get stronger and am excited to see how we will improve throughout the rest of the year.  – Hannah Moore ’18

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