GOSHEN COUNTY – For choir students in Goshen County, the All-County Choir Gala concert is a lot of things.
For some, like students from Southeast High School and Lingle-Fort Laramie High School, it’s a chance to be a part of a choir with more singers than their respective schools have students.
For Torrington High School students, it’s a chance to be part of an even bigger sound than they’re used to.
For the county’s choir teachers, it’s a chance to work with students from other schools and to collaborate with their colleagues.
And for Goshen County as a whole, it’s some of the best Christmas music you’ll ever hear and it’s free to the public.
The Choir Gala, slated for Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Torrington High School, is unique with choirs from all three local high schools will come together for one night only to perform holiday songs under the direction of all three choir teachers in the district.
There’s a lot that goes into the concert, including weeks of practice by each school, and one entire day of rehearsal – the day of the concert – as the gala choir. One thing is near certain though – with all that talent in the same room, it’s a night music enthusiasts won’t want to miss.
“It’s always pretty cool with all three of the schools together,” Drew Blunsom, a senior at Southeast, said. “There’s more noise, it’s all together and it just sounds really good.”
Practice makes perfect
In Lingle, L-FL music teacher Erin Jespersen sits at her piano, playing along as her students practice the songs she and her colleagues, Brittany Milstead at Southeast and Katy Fody at Torrington, have selected for the gala concert.
Her small choir of a dozen has been practicing for weeks now. Jespersen is preparing her students for an experience many of them will only get a few times in their high school careers – being a part of a choir that will fill the entire stage at THS. Jespersen has been a part of the district’s gala band concert, but this is her first go-round with the choir gala.
That’s because it’s everyone’s first shot at it. After nearly a decade of band galas, the district’s teachers have decided to alternate annually between choir and band concerts.
“My hunch is that it’s going to be a really positive experience,” she said. “I feel like the kids in Goshen County musically really want to sound good and want to prepare well.”
At roughly the same time, Milstead is doing the exact same thing with her 16-person choir in Yoder. According to her, the idea of the gala choir almost didn’t come to fruition.
“This is our first year doing the gala with choir,” she said. “We’ve kicked around the idea in the past, but never went through with it. In fact, we almost scrapped it this year and just went with band, but the members of our collegial group urged us to jump in and give it the green light, and I’m glad we did.”
And the students are glad, too. Choir members at Southeast and Lingle are used to being a little shorthanded – it’s just their reality, due to the small size of their schools. They get a chance to be a part of a large choir at their district music festival – but that was cancelled this year due to a snowstorm. So for this year, at least, this is their shot.
“I like the sound of the bigger choir,” L-FL senior Emily Hatch said. “I think the parts stand out more, so it’s weird to go from small choir to big choir and go back to a small choir again.”
Southeast senior Kayla Plummer echoed her counterpart, and said it’s exciting to be a part of the bigger choir.
“I’m excited for it,” she said. “It’s going to sound better. When it’s just us, it’s just not as loud.”
According to Jespersen, there are always challenges when musicians who are used to smaller ensembles meld into bigger ones, but working together will be the key to a successful concert.
“The band kids, it’s a little bit different because a small band going into a big band is a little bit different experience than a small choir going into a bigger choir, although it is very impressive for them to be able to sing together,” she said. “It’s a lot about collaboration, working together as a district and working with different directors making that music in Goshen County.”
New opportunities
In Torrington, Fody and her students are facing their own set of challenges.
The THS choir usually stands about 65 students strong, but the choir gala is an opportunity to be a part of an even bigger group, and sing with new people.
“I’m very excited, honestly,” THS senior Elyssa Cummings said. “It’s going to be great. We get to sing with people we don’t normally get to.
“When you’re singing with a big group, you’re able to do a lot of music you wouldn’t get to do otherwise. I’m honestly really excited to see how us Goshen County schools can come together and collaborate.”
Another THS senior, Brian Fenn, was previously a part of the band gala. He said bringing all three choirs together will take an effort on the part of the singers, but he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“I used to be in the band,” he said. “It took a lot of focus to do it in the band, so I’m a little nervous about it but if everyone focuses I think it will be OK.
“I think it will be cool. I think if you’re in a smaller group it could be cool to work into a bigger group.”
While Milstead and Jespersen have both had experience in conducting the gala bands, this is Fody’s first gala. For her, it’s been a learning process to work with the other teachers and their music selections.
“Challenge-wise, I’m used to picking all the music for the concerts and so it’s been different taking music from other people and incorporating it into our program. But it’s been eye-opening for me,” she said. “I got to see a lot of good music that I would probably not have been able to see before.”
“What we’ve done is that and we’ve communicated and said we’re going to do this here, and we’re going to do this here, and so we have an idea of what to expect, but it’s going be different for everybody,” she said. “I would imagine it’ll take the entire day of rehearsal.”
“A different situation all together”
The students from all three schools will be tasked with working with conductors they aren’t used to.
While some students have had that experience in the district choir, it can still be difficult, Fody said.
“For the kids, I think the biggest thing is going to be that they are used to working with me, and now they’re going to work with two people they’re not accustomed to working with,” she said. “I think that’s probably a bigger challenge for them, because we do have the majority of the kids who will be at the concert. They’re used to working with each other, but it’ll be different working with a different director.”
Milstead said she is looking forward to the experience. For the song she’s directing, a jazz ensemble made up of community members will join in the performance, which will provide another new experience for the young singers.
“The addition of community members playing for our last song is also a plus,” she said. “Most choral singers do not get the chance to sing with a live jazz combo, so it’s a wonderful experience. Personally, I’m very excited to direct a large choir. I’ve directed large bands before, but never a large choir, so I couldn’t be more excited.”
Some students admitted to being a little nervous for the concert. The nerves are generally overshadowed by the excitement of being a part of a concert that has become a local holiday tradition.
“For us, with all of us all together, it’s just a different situation all together,” Blunsom said. “You don’t have to worry about how you sound as much because everybody else is there, too.”
Another Southeast senior, Kyra McGuire, said she’s more excited than nervous.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I’ve gone to district before, so I’ve had those different instructors before, so I’m not nervous.”
L-FL senior Brooke Lay said it might be more of a challenge to come back to her school’s smaller choir after the gala.
“I think about it like just a clinic that’s a lot of people and I always like the way it sounds,” she said. “It’s weird coming back home to our small choir, and you’re like ‘guys, where did all the sound go?’”
