On March 3, 2025, at Parkway North High School, members of the Chamber and Concert Choir performed in front of friends and family. This performance marked the third time the students performed together and their first time performing in front of a live audience.
“This is a big time of growth, especially for the freshman and sophomore members of the choir. This is an opportunity for them to sing with the program’s upperclassmen,” choir director Kimberly Roback said.
As time goes on, the music pieces tend to get harder, so this allows the younger members to prepare for future performances. It also connects them more to the program and gives them more connections to the upperclassmen’s help.
“Participating in the choir program and being taught by Mrs. Roback have been some of the highlights of my high school career,” senior Kiki Brawner said.
To prepare for the concert, students practiced separately and together when they could.
“To prepare for the concert, we had to work extra hard in class to make sure the music sounded good and was memorized,” Brawner said. “We also had to give up some time during ac lab to rehearse since we were combining classes,.”
Since the students are in different classes and there were a lot of snow days, it was difficult to find time to get them all together to practice.
“One of the biggest challenges we faced this year was the snow days, which resulted in missed rehearsals. Each choir missed three rehearsals, which is a lot in the grand scheme,” Roback said.
The concert combined students from all grade levels in the choir, starting with tenors and baritone, followed by the sopranos and altos and served as a pre-concert for the students who will then perform at the State Large Ensemble Contest.
“The concert was so fun. Being able to perform in front of my family, who surprised me by coming, was amazing. I can’t wait to see how we do in front of the judges during the competition,” sophomore Aaliyah Thomas said.
One of the songs performed by the sopranos and altos was “Earth song.” At first glance, it seemed pretty easy to learn, but Brawner thought it was challenging.
“Students stay more engaged when the music is not too easy and always has new things they can learn or ways they can hone skills we have been working on all year,” Roback said.
To close the performances, the Parkway North’s acapella group, Vallaha, performed.
