Treble Choir Performs Yuletide Concert

Treble choir students performed at the Yuletide concert on December 12, 2024 in the high school auditorium. Members of the treble choir sang “Infant Holy Infant Lowly” arranged by Elizabeth Alexander, “Elijah Rock” arranged by Victor Johnson, and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" arranged by Tami Creamer. 

The songs that the choir sings are meticulously chosen based on things like the season and the level of the group, “I select repertoire based on the level of the ensemble as well as themes that I am often inspired by. For example, the Yuletide Concert was based on the winter season and the sacredness of the season. So, I am programming sacred texts, holiday themes, and hymns. Those often remind audiences of this season whereas in the spring we can be more liberal with our decisions on repertoire,” Vocal Director Stephone Gaines said. 

Choir members usually have plenty of time to learn their parts. “The students in treble and concert choir typically get their music in the beginning of the performance season unless I am inspired by a piece at a later point in the semester,” Gaines said.

The treble choir singers give themselves a lot of time to perfect their songs. Alto section leader Gia Palumbo said, “The songs we sing for concerts normally get introduced to the group after a concert has just ended, or in the beginning of the school year when no concerts have taken place, not long after Mr Gaines gets to know us as a group and our strengths and weaknesses.” 

Palumbo said,“Near the day of a concert, Mr Gaines no matter the circumstance, will enforce a hardworking environment where a lot of progress is guaranteed to get done in order for our songs to sound as best as they possibly can.” The choir as a whole knows when they need to put all their time and effort into the concert but they also realize choir is not just about the concerts. “There are some days when the day of the concert is distant and almost the entire ensemble, including the teacher, is not in the right mindset to learn, and not as much stuff gets done. There are also periods of time in class devoted to taking tests, preparing for auditions, and learning topics that do not revolve around our pieces, sometimes even choir as a whole.”

The winter Yuletide concert at the beginning of the school year is always a more fast-paced time for the girls. Soprano Taylor Bethelmie said, “Since the winter concert was so soon in the beginning of the school year, we kind of had to lock in, so we pretty much worked on the songs everyday; some days we would take a break and not sing and other times we would work on sight reading. For the spring concert we have a little more time, so things will be different.”

Surprisingly, the girls don’t get much time on the stage before a performance. Gaines said, “The key elements of prep for each performance are oriented around the stage. How can we place ourselves on the stage to sound and look our best? We spend months in the classroom rehearsing music, but then only have two or three rehearsals on stage to look and sound our best in a different acoustic.” 

Sopranos and altos deal with different obstacles while rehearsing their parts in a song. Palumbo said, “Every section also has their individual strengths and weaknesses, so while one section might be worried about rhythms in a specific piece, another section might have perfected that exact spot in that piece.”

Bethelmie said, “[The rehearsal process] may differ depending on the parts of the song we have. Sometimes the sopranos have to work on hitting the higher notes, but also sometimes we have to make sure we are actually singing the correct notes/rhythms.”

Because the treble choir is for girls who are going into choir at the high school for the first time, the majority of the group consists of freshmen coming from the middle school. Palumbo said, “Preparing for concerts at the high school requires more complex warm-ups, and requires a lot of independence when knowing what to do and when during a concert.”