On Friday, May 15th, the final choir concert of the year took place in Saperstein theatre at 7:00 PM. The theme for this year’s concert was “United in Harmony” with the director, Mr. Keilbach, directing all 5 choirs: Tenor chorus, Treble chorus, Wolverine Singers, Vocal Ensemble, and finally the most advanced choir, Madrigals.
Although it was not included in the program, alumni from previous years who participated in choir joined Madrigals in a group piece called Calling My Children Home.
“I really enjoyed the concert, but one thing I really want to highlight was when Madrigals sang Calling My Children Home,” Oliver Baraze ’29. “We learned that song right before the concert started, and I think it really reflects on how much we’ve grown our musical skills since the beginning of the year.”
During every choir concert, a group piece with all five choirs join together on stage to sing their final song for the audience. This year’s final piece was called Battle Hymn of the Republic.
“I’d say that the choir concert was defined by our amazing community, as the entire choir program gathered together to sing and make music,” Solly Wain ’29 said. “The best example of this is when we sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which combined all 5 choirs here at the middle school. That song, to me, truly unified us all. I mean, the concert was called United in Harmony for a reason, right?”
“I think it was a great concert,” Mr. Keilbach said. “Every choir got to do their own pieces, then we did a beautiful combined piece at the end. We also had that moment where we got to invite the upper school choir alumni back on stage to sing with us. It’s a fun way to showcase some of the music we’ve done at festivals and show it to families because most parents don’t get to go to the festivals.”
“I really enjoyed the choir concert this year especially because of the chance to hear all the songs ranging from relaxing to joyful songs, and being able to perform with my friends was very fun,” Molly Lee ’30 said. “I liked the theme of this year’s spring choral concert because it celebrated America’s 250th anniversary with many upbeat songs and beautiful solos.”
Regularly, the themes for these concerts are usually related to the season they take place in. For example, the first concert of last year was called The Spring Medley because it took place during spring, so this patriotic theme was quite unique.
“The reason for this year’s theme was because it was the 250th anniversary of the United States, so I was thinking a lot about American music and how American music has such rich historical context,” said Mr. Keilbach. “So when I was choosing music, I chose it with that in mind. We did a lot of spirituals and a barbershop piece, a lot of music theater and some American folk songs. I actually didn’t come up with the title of the theme, but a student in Madrigals came up with it, and it fit so perfectly.”
