The final choir concert of the year was relatively normal but there was something special added to the vibes. That’s because in every May concert, the last concert of the school year, there is a theme that is picked and the concert follows that theme, including the songs. This year, the theme was the 80’s. It is also the last concert for the senior class with the MHS Choir program.
The first song was “Africa” arranged by Alex Morris, a mass piece sung by everyone in the Mead Choir–and it was beautiful. Hearing everyone in the choir singing one song made the sound full in the auditorium. It was amazing to hear as the words belting from every singer filled the room.
Aurora Blues was then the first choir to sing individually. They sang “Holding Out For A Hero” as arranged by Paul Langford. “Holding Out For A Hero” was a very enjoyable and fun song to listen to. They followed that with “I Will Always Love Whitney” arranged by Mac Huff. This was one of my favorites as the Aurora Blues choir smashed this performance.
The Tenor-Bass choir came second and performed exceptionally well. They started with “Man In The Mirror” as arranged by Ed Lojeski. Tenor-Bass had a little two step half circle going and it was incredibly fun to watch. Their second song was “Beat it,” arranged by Mark Brymer. This piece was fantastic and the men’s voices were really well-heard in this concert. They ended their set with “I’m Still Standing” arranged by Pete Schmutte. “I’m Still Standing” was sung with a lot of energy and joy. It was obvious this choir truly enjoyed singing this one.
Belle Voix started off their set with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” arranged by Adam Anders And Peer Astrom. This was a nice pop tune from Mead’s one and only mixed choir.
They followed that up with “Running Up That Hill,” arranged by Roger Emerson. “Running Up That Hill,” was really nice sounding, and you could really hear the different parts in the chorus–which added a lot to the performance.
They ended their set with “Thriller” arranged by Mark Brymer. On top of everything, they had a choreographed dance which was incredibly exciting. Towards the end of the song some of the singers ran into the aisles of the auditorium and danced by the audience. Everybody in the audience seemed to really enjoy the creativity.
The Treble Choir followed BV and sang “Heaven Is A Place On Earth,” arranged by Audrey Snyder; and it sounded really good. They had two solos in the song, one sung by Kira Corn (‘27) and the other sung by Torey Reyburn (‘27). Choir followed this up with “Time After Time” arranged by Mark A. Brymer. This song also had two solos, one sung by Lizzy Speaker (‘27) and the other by Arianna Rock (‘27). This song was another really good song for these ladies as they killed it.
Polyphonics only had two songs in their set, but they did so well singing both of them. Their first song was “Let’s Dance” arranged by Eric Van Cleave. The choir seemed to really enjoy singing this song and had a fun time with each other on stage. They followed this up with a great rendition of “Take On Me” arranged by Roger Emerson. This song was one of the best of the concert and you could see the audience singing along with the choir a little bit. It was really cool to see.
Harmonique was the last choir to sing and they did not disappoint. They started off by doing “Sweet Dreams” arranged by Mark Brymer with everyone starting in the audience. They all rose and came together as they were singing the song in different parts of the auditorium. It was really cool choreography and something I haven’t seen before. They followed up that piece with “True Colors” arranged by Tim Brent. It was a really nice song to end the choir’s set. Soloist Asia Park (‘24) did an amazing job with her part.
As the concert is coming to an end we get to the emotional part of the night, the senior awards. These awards are handed out to some of the best performing musicians in the choir. They are given to musicians that have worked hard and been greatly influential to the choir for many years. The awards handed out were Choir MVP, Director’s choice award, and the Mrs. Harris award. The recipients of the awards are as follows:
MVP: Michael Reeder (‘24)
Director’s Choice Award: Bierte Peterson (‘24)
Mrs. Harris Award: Asia Park (‘24)
After the awards was the heartfelt speech given by Ms. Berry. She reminisced on the memories she made with this senior class and barely made it through the first sentence before she started crying. After Ms. Berry finished her emotional speech, the senior class of choir musicians of 2024 proceeded to sing the song “For Good” from the Broadway musical “Wicked.”
This performance was incredibly emotional. It was obvious that this senior class cared for each other and MHS Choir as a whole. After the last song of the night, the seniors came down and watched the senior slideshow made specifically for them. It was amazing to see how close this choir program was this year. Many tears were shed by people of all grades across all choirs. The class of 2024 will be dearly missed by everyone.
