Choir shows dedication to singing
Sopranos, altos, tenors, baritones, and bass’ are working hard to show their dedication to singing. The Stillwater Choir proves that they are more than just a choir. Not only do they have in class rehearsals, but they also have sectionals once a week at 7 a.m. Though many hate to wake up early, these students do not mind doing it for their passion.
Last year, choir director Angela Mitchell, switched from conducting Belle Chanter to taking over for Erik Christiansen who retired after the 2016 school year. Taking over a choir that had such a tight bond between conductor and singers is a difficult transition.
Mitchell was intimidated at first to take over. “The most nerve racking thing was how can I continue the tradition and the pride that they have, but bring my own personality to it,” Mitchell said. Though, she still felt as if she knew the students from already working with Christiansen for many years.
The most nerve racking thing was how can I continue the tradition and the pride that they have, but bring my own personality to it. — Angela Mitchell
Mitchell, who has done women’s repertoire for 20 years, has picked a variety of music that has a completely different feel than Christiansen. “He [Christiansen] sang very traditional music, we kind of had the same order and Mrs. Mitchell’s had more of an upbeat personality and the music, it has a lot more variety,” senior Elise Luoma said.
This year’s winter concert showed the variety of music conducted by Mitchell. “Beati” which is a slower, Latin text song, “O Magnum Mysterium” which is also Latin, but a Christmas hymn, “Praise to the Lord” is English text about God himself, and lastly “Gaudete” which is of Latin text that is a Christmas carol.
It is said that when a group of people sing together their hearts beat to the same rhythm. This can bring people to feel more liking to others. Same has to do with the annual choir tour. Over the years, Stillwater choirs have travelled all over the United States. Last year, Concert travel just to Virginia, Bemidji and Brainerd, Minn. The Trip was called “Minnesota Triangle Tour.”
A majority of the students who have ever gone on choir trips always regret not meeting people earlier and that they create so many friends by the end. This year they will be going to New York City. Though it is a costly trip, many are excited and ready to go.
“[I’m] totally pumped [about going to New York] I’m excited to go to Broadway. I’m excited to sing in another state. I’m excited to fly somewhere instead of a coach bus,” sophomore Madeline Haase said.
This choir can offer relationships through the power of music and emotion. Choir can bring people together just by one single note.
“It’s a really amazing thing that we do. That we start from nothing, like a piece of paper with back dots and every day discover problems, and solutions until you get the this moment where you’re in front of an audience and are sharing this emotional connection to the music and each other and all of the battle you went through to get there and it’s that moment in time where you just make music,” Mitchell said.
Madison Weispfenning, junior, is a layout editor and writes for the arts and entertainment department. In her free time, she enjoy doing crossfit and is...
Tess Schoenborn • Jan 17, 2018 at 9:59 am
I like this article because it even explains the songs that were sung this semester which is interesting. I also Like how in depth the quotes are.
Max Kennedy • Jan 17, 2018 at 12:30 am
the introduction drew me in right away and i thought that was pretty amazing because choir is boring for me. You gave a lot of dynamic quotes and had a well structured article. I think some of your quotes could have been a little less repetitive but all in all a solid article.
Mackenzie Motz • Jan 16, 2018 at 11:09 pm
Something about the Alt copy for this story was very captivating to me. It was very simple and had really strong quotes that went along really well with the story.
Noah Pasiuk • Jan 16, 2018 at 9:10 pm
Being in the choir it is nice to hear how other people feel and how I can relate to there passion for music. Alt copy looked great as well as the article. First paragraph had a really good hook, and the conclusion wrapped everything up nicely.
Grant Hietpas • Jan 16, 2018 at 9:08 pm
I liked that this article provided insight into the choir that, as someone who is not in choir, was not aware of, and at the same time conveyed an interesting story.
Andrew Phan • Jan 16, 2018 at 8:57 pm
The alternative story really pops out with the color fade from red to black. The font is also unique kind of being blocky it stands out. The quotes are strong from three choir students. I like the layout of the story is nice and symmetrical making it easier to follow.
Benjamin Valerius • Jan 16, 2018 at 1:46 pm
I really like the variety of sources the alt copy and traditional story cover. The only thing I would critique is the relevance of the news story, as it seems like this is just covering old news about Mitchell taking over Doc’s position, which happened two years ago.
Alyssa Bump • Jan 12, 2018 at 11:05 am
I really like the ALT copy story on this. I love the color fade on it, it looks really good. I also really enjoy the quotes throughout the story. It was overall really good!
Evelyn Young • Jan 10, 2018 at 5:27 pm
This article interested me because I used to be in choir. This story covers a lot of ground on what concert choir is and what they do. It was very informative. A variety of quotes also helped to give the reader an idea of what was going on. It was very well written.
Katelyn Krech • Jan 10, 2018 at 10:18 am
Gives a good understanding of how it led up to this and Mrs. Mitchel
Emma Polucha • Jan 10, 2018 at 8:07 am
The first paragraph drew me in to the rest of the story. I am not quite sure if everyone knows what sopranos, altos, bass’, baritones, and tenors are so maybe start off saying what part they play in choir. Otherwise very well written and I loved how you relayed how exciting going to New York will be.