A day in the life of a Millbrook High School Madrigal would obviously begin with waking up and heading to school, but that’s not the fun part. Their day, as a Madrigal, truly begins at the start of 3rd period. When the bell rings for 3rd period, Mr. Adams wastes no time getting the Madrigals ready for the day by asking them to share a good thing that has happened recently. These good things can range from watching a movie about a choir in their French class, or their dance accomplishments, to seeing a person holding the biggest rake ever. This small section of class helps build a community between the Madrigals that makes them feel more like a family than anything else.
The Madrigals next begin their warm ups. They start with some breathing exercises to help strengthen the diaphragm and improve vocal stamina and control. They next warm up their vocals and breath control by doing some lip trills. They go up and down the scale as well as practice solfege while lip trilling. The next couple warm ups are very similar as they go up and down the scale on different vowels; Mr. Adams likes to make it fun by having them walk around while they do it. Walking and singing helps improve breath control, but walking and singing while looking at your peers can also help a performer not break when they see something, or someone, funny. Since the Madrigals are a mixed choir they break into lower and higher voices during warm ups so the sopranos and altos can practice their higher ranges and the basses and tenors can practice their lower ranges. For one last warm up, Mr. Adams assigns each section a note and has them sing the chord. Practicing singing chords helps singers identify, match and produce different notes in songs.
They begin rehearsal with a song called “Cum Sancto Spiritu” by Hyo-won Woo. This song combines Western musical concepts with traditional Korean musical scale. It incorporates difficult rhythmic patterns called “jangden”, which means long-short. The Madrigals give all their pieces their undivided attention, but this piece specifically needs more attention than already given due to its difficulty with rhythm and timing. Mr. Adams pulls just the sopranos and altos to work on their parts, perfecting things like vowels and shape. Senior and alto Ursula Furnas said, “My favorite part of this song is when it splits into four different parts and we get to sing with the basses, but the end of this piece is very challenging because we’re all saying amen on different timing and rhythms.” Mr. Adams then brings the tenors and basses in to work on their parts before bringing all the sections together and telling them, “I’d rather you make a loud mistake than a quiet one” and then running through the song.
The next song they rehearse is “Il Lampo” by Ryan Main. This song is in Italian with a dramatic mixed-meter musical setting. Mr. Adams has the Madrigals move away from their sections and mix up before they run this song. After a full initial run through he brings a focus on soprano and alto parts that need a little tweaking. Sophomore and tenor Noah Wilson said, “My favorite part about this piece is the ending, where we all come together for this huge crescendo. We are definitely still working on our pitches, rhythm, and ensuring we stay on beat.” The class then comes back together to run through the song one last time before moving on.
After focusing a lot on the more challenging piece, “Come Sancto Spiritu”, there isn’t much time left in class so Mr. Adams has the Madrigals run their next songs very quickly. The next song they rehearse is “An Earth Song” by Marques L.A. Garrett. This piece is a new setting of a Langston Hughes’ text that expresses the joy of life and the world. The Madrigals mix up their sections again and run the song all the way through. Senior and soprano Sheila Awasthi said, “My favorite part of’ ‘Earth Song’ has to be the very end because it’s very bold, it’s dramatic, it’s what you’d expect about a piece talking about the earth itself. I really like how all the parts come together in one big harmony. The end is also one of the most challenging parts because it’s above the staff but the bridge is also challenging because each part is individual and they come in at different parts.” After they rehearse the song in full Mr. Adams gives them a few notes before letting them move on.
Their next song is “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place” by Johannes Brahms. This piece is an excerpt of Brahms’ “A German Requiem” and is considered a “classic” by musicians in the field. The Madrigals now go back to their sections to run this piece. Junior and bass Taite Capers said, “My favorite part of this song is the language of how it interplays with the music, you can hear Brahms’ voice clearly and how he respects German. I think the most difficult part is the long phrases that we get into and how the notes get super high for the tenors and super low for the basses.” After a few notes Mr. Adams tells the Madrigals they will not be running their 5th piece, “Children Go Where I Send Thee” by Kevin Phillip Johnson, that includes a rap section, because they are doing a special bonding activity called Affirmations.
“Affirmations” requires one Madrigal to be selected by their peers to sit in front of the class while the others raise their hands to give them affirmations and sweet words. Affirmations is a tradition the Madrigals do on Fridays and really makes the choir feel like a family. For a regular Madrigal this marks the end of rehearsing for the day but for Kael Alley (tenor) and Sophie Idler (alto 2) they continue to rehearse for North Carolina Honors Chorus.
North Carolina High School Honors Chorus is an out of school choir meant to honor “outstanding singers” from high schools in North Carolina by letting them have the chance to perform at the “highest level of achievement.” Interested high school choir members had to audition using “Leap Free of the Cage” by Connor Koppin and were also able to perform that piece at the show. Alley and Idler are not the only Millbrook students to ever attend NC Honors Chorus, Millbrook’s Choral program normally has one or more students in the NC Honors Chorus performance. Senior Kael Alley said, “I loved the fast-paced nature of the rehearsals and how good it felt to fix something and make a piece sound even more gorgeous. Also, getting selected out of the whole choir to perform a solo was the cherry on top. The sound we produced was unlike any other choir I had ever been in and it was genuinely unreal to hear. I also really enjoyed the friends that I met because they made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.”
Being a Millbrook Madrigal or any Millbrook choral student isn’t always an easy task but the outcome of all of the hard work combined is worth it in the end. The winter Choir concert where the Madrigals will be singing these songs is December 16th 2025 and tickets can be purchased at the door!
