Recently, the Springbrook choir had a performance at Walt Whitman High School on Friday, April 29th. Leslie Yoon, a freshman at Springbrook, and Ms. Hairston, the director of the Choral Program, have provided The Blueprint with insights relating to this performance. Both Leslie and Ms. Hairston have firsthand experience with choral performing. This performance is one the Springbrook Chorus has been preparing for since the beginning of this year. They started preparing for the performance around late March to early April.

 Leslie notes, “We sang Einini [by: Cyndee Giebler] as a warm-up, and Vidalitla [by: Diana Saez], as well as Shake it Out [by: Mark Brymer] as the performance songs. It’s been a while since I sang on stage in front of a live audience. It was a lot more nerve-wracking than I thought it was going to be. I think everyone was kind of tense and anxious, but we ended up sounding really good and it was a pretty fun experience.”

 As for the songs they performed, Leslie points out that the songs had different moods. “Vidalita was more of a bittersweet song, while Shake it Out was more sort of an uprising and motivational you could say. I really enjoyed singing Vidalita especially since the sopranos had a descant, it elevated the song and made it feel sort of elegant. The songs made me feel more passionate. I enjoyed the parts I had in the song.” 

Students and Springbrook staff worked together to organize an amazing performance. The students showed their support by wearing Springbrook Chorus T-shirts during school hours. Before the performance took place, we asked Ms. Hairston, the music teacher, what they wanted the audience to take away from the performance. Ms. Hairston told The BluePrint, “We want the audience to have a great time and make them feel happy with our performance.” 

As stated by Leslie herself, “I don’t think it was that hard to learn the songs. Even though some of them were not in English, it came to me easily. Then again I’m the type of person who can easily pick up lyrics.” Prior to performing, it seems that Leslie might’ve had a smooth experience preparing for the performance. 

She describes her preparation for the performance as, in some ways, stressful. “We didn’t have the whole chorus together since we were split into different periods, as it was our first time performing at a different place with a lot more people. When we did have everyone together it was fun and I think we slowly gained more confidence.” After performing, Leslie felt so relieved. “It was like having so much weight on your shoulders since you don’t want to mess up.” 

As expressed, this event has many positive wishes and outcomes. For the people who might be wondering or interested in the Springbrook Choir, Ms. Hairston would like to let Springbrook students know that choir is for everybody and a great place to build confidence and enjoy music. For the people who want a student’s perspective on Springbrook Choir, Leslie would like to advise that, “If you really enjoy singing or music, in general, you should join Chorus, it’s really fun and you get to go to different places to perform. Also, it’s a nice way to make friends.” The preparation and performance with this Choir event has shown Springbrook students the exciting experience the choral program can give you.