The students started with light warm ups of vowel sounds going higher and higher with the octave. Once comfortable enough with the song the pianist started playing, the drums were added, and the song finally came to life. If I closed my eyes, it felt as if with each note the singers were transporting me back to a 1920’s jazz show. That is the music department’s jazz band, shades of blue.
“It’s also a very nice community to be in from what I’ve seen most years. The people in Madrigals tend to also be the people in jazz and it’s just a very comfortable and well adjusted setting for everyone,” said Alexa Ayala, junior.
To be a community you have to know the people in it and definitely a way to do that is through extracurriculars. The music department has many different clubs for students to join that involve singing such as Madrigals, Shades of Blue, Vox, and even the school musical can get students involved in the choir community. It’s something that can become very important when forming new friendships or even meeting new people.
“Choir has helped me grow as a person, and has made me explore music to deeper depths. The choir has given me friends I can never forget and a life that has shaped me completely,” says Charlotte Lyons, senior.
Charlotte Lyons has been a part of the Hoffman choir for all 4 years and it definitely helped her a lot throughout all of them, which is the case for a lot of people. The community formed around the Hoffman Choir has definitely started with the students getting involved, with all the opportunities the students have. It cannot only help form new friendships but new memories and experiences they can use throughout their lives.
“Something I do to prepare myself for a concert is to take deep breaths and to keep calm so I can focus on giving my best performance possible, and I usually talk to my peers a bit as well before the show to distract myself a bit,” Adam DeVerville, sophomore.
Hoffman Choir is able to bond over shared experiences and hardships they overcome as a collective, such as performing in a concert in front of family and friends and sometimes random people as well. Something that the students are able to do is calm down their nerves with the help of peers or through personal coping mechanisms.
Even the choir director gets out of the way so the students have the chance to be independent and work as a true team. The students are forced to get to know one another, bond, to problem solve and coordinate so they can come together and make something beautiful.
“I get the heck out of the way,” said Matthew Schlesinger, choir director. “Everyone starts to find their way and find their moments to lead and the way they can contribute.”
The true magic making comes from the students, the director is just there to help critique or sort of guide the students through the process, a great example of this is the choirs leadership program. It is mainly led by the students, within leadership there are different roles where students are able to take on specific jobs or responsibilities. But everyone has a chance to contribute and have their voice be heard. The students get to share their own ideas and thoughts to help improve Hoffman’s choir or to plan other fun things.
“Right before we go on stage, all 3 choirs stand in a circle and sing a song together, called ‘You’ll never walk alone’,” said Lyons.
This is a beautiful way to show every single person’s contribution no matter what it was to the choir. The students are able to take a step back and really admire their accomplishments and how much of an impact that choir has made on them. Now they are ready to show everyone their hard work and beautiful voices.
