All three of the Parkway North High’s Choirs earned a 1 or an exemplary rating in the choir competition held at Lafayette High School on Wednesday, March 13.
“[I knew we could win]–and we have won in past years–so it’s just a lot of work, but we’ve got this,” freshman Carly Walker said.
Getting to this point was not easy for the groups. Besides practicing often, which is what the choir groups always have done, they also lost their accompanist at the beginning of second semester.
“Not having Cereghino, the prior accompanist, at the beginning of the second semester put us behind a little bit because I was directing and behind the piano for a while and not being able to be up close with the students,” said Kimberly Roback, the choir director at Parkway North High.
Roback explained how these factors made it difficult to practice at her preferred pace. Directing choir requires working closely with students to make sure each individual performer is ready.
This was also the first time for freshmen who are in choir to compete.
“I was really excited about the competition but also nervous,” Walker said. “It’s a lot of pressure.”
The event lasted a total of four hours and included both time to rehearse as well as perform for the judges.
As soon as the singers arrived, each choir got the chance to practice and warm up in a private room for around 10 minutes before performing their music. After that, they were given music that they haven’t seen or heard before and had two minutes to review it before performing and being judged on their ability to sight-read. They also got the opportunity to sit and watch other choirs perform.
“I think we were well-prepared and used our rehearsal time very well,” freshman Bryce Glasby said.
The scoring was focused on whether the groups were all in harmony, on the pitch, tall vowels, and in sync, even things like posture and facial expressions were closely paid attention to.
All of the choirs have been focusing on their performances, as well as skills on sight-reading, since the beginning of February. They practiced during class and took time from their Ac Labs to perfect all of their music and skills.
“I feel like everyone pulled through at the end…we always have room to grow, but we did a lot of really good things in the end,” Roback said.
