Every year, Millbrooks choir classes come together to put on two chorus concerts. Their last concert of the year took place on May 13th in the auditorium and a lot of work went into preparing for it.
There are five choirs here at Millbrook. Novum is the beginner class for higher voices such as sopranos and altos. Ingen is beginner/intermediate for lower voices like tenors and basses. Chamber is for intermediate higher voices and Celeste is for proficient higher voices. Finally, Madrigals is the advanced choir for all voices.
One of the most important parts of the concert is of course the songs. Mr. Adams, the choral director, puts a lot of thought into choosing the songs each choir is going to perform, making sure to pick songs that challenge each of the choirs, he says this is the only way they can improve. He adds, “It takes days upon days to listen to each individual piece in an effort to piecemeal each individual selection into a well-rounded set for each choir. I strive to have diversity in our songs that also has different technical challenges. Some are powerful and bold while others require more lyricism and finesse.”
Once the songs are chosen, the choirs spend weeks learning them, not only memorizing the lyrics, but also studying the meaning and interpretation of each of the songs. Mr. Adams explains they do this so that, “[their] presentation is authentically aligned with the students’ experience.”
Not only does Mr. Adams put a lot of work into the concert, but the students work really hard to learn the songs and rehearse while also keeping up with their other classes and having to prepare for other events. Jayden Paulson, a sophomore in Madrigals says, “Preparing for a concert really depends on what everyone needs. A lot of it is memorization because a lot of our choirs have events around this final concert, Madrigals at Duke Chapel or Chamber and Celeste at Carowinds.”
Before the concert, the choirs spent months practicing the songs, and they had a rehearsal a few days before the final concert on May 8th. Each choir ran through the songs a few times, perfecting them before their final performance. All the work that went into the concert definitely paid off and shows the dedication of everyone involved.
