Elizabeth Pham

Vocal Music III

Mr. Mullinax
2/23/16
A High School Choral Celebration Concert
Our choir had the opportunity to participate in this wonderful choral
celebration at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, where the best high
school choirs in all of Wake County came together to perform for each other.
The church had great acoustics and sound quality, but this meant that the
church loved vowel sounds and muffled the consonants. This made
understanding the words a little more difficult, but the overall tone of all the
choirs were heightened. The high school choirs that participated included
Broughton, Millbrook, Sanderson, Athens Drive, Southeast Raleigh Magnet,
and Panther Creek High School.
My favorite pieces sung that night were Lux Aeterna by Athens Drive
and I Am Not Yours sung by Millbrook. They were both pieces that we
learned this semester and it was very refreshing to see a new perspective to
how they were performed. Another one of my favorites included I Thank You
Jesus sung by Sanderson. The song had a gospel sound to it and was
different compared to most of the other song choices. A choir that really
amazed be was the 18 Karat Honors Chorus from Southeast Raleigh Magnet

High School. This choir had the least amount of people, but created a full
sound that was able to resonate throughout the church.
All of the choirs sounded beautiful and had great tone and blend. Each
of them had a different sound and brought their own unique personality to
the piece. One of the choirs that I thought had really good vowel sounds
were Athens Drive. They had a round and mature sound that was something I
felt the other choirs were lacking. Many choirs used what is referred to as the
pay notes to amaze the crowd, which in reality isnt anything special. Pay
notes are high notes that sopranos sing (solo or more people) that sounds
very beautiful and impressive. Although these notes were mesmerizing, they
didnt show anything about the choir as a whole which didnt prove the
choirs overall ability and technique.
I am glad we went to this choral celebration because it was a great
way to share our music with each other. I hope we are able to participate in
this celebration again because it was a great learning experience and helped
us connect with other choir members in our community. I appreciate the fact
that this was not a competition, but merely a celebration to commend each
other for all the beautiful music that we are able to create. It was wonderful
to hear all the other amazing choirs in our county and I cannot wait to
experience more festivals like this one.