From large concert choirs to small groups like the Fourtes and Vive L’Four, Lakewood City Schools’ choral program focuses on vocal technique, music reading and group performances to display their talents to the community. The program serves an important role in connecting students and the community with the shared joy of music.
Directed by Rayna Brooks, choir classes at Lakewood High School offer students an opportunity to strengthen their vocal abilities in a fun and relaxing way.
“I think being in choir is important because it’s a way to be creative in your day. And if you like to sing… there’s a place in your day where you just get to do that five days a week,” Brooks said.
A typical class begins with physical stretching and a vocal warm-up “…for about five to seven minutes, humming, singing high, singing low,” Brooks said. Then, it’s all about preparation and working on songs for upcoming performances. The choir’s two most recent events, the Sounds of the Season and Winter Choral concerts, celebrated the start of the holidays with the Lakewood community.
Choir classes are fun, but they are also full of learning experiences. Communication, global mindedness, and confidence are just a few of the things that students learn in choir.
“I knew I’d learn ‘how to sing’, but I didn’t anticipate the confidence with being able to sing in front of people,” senior choir member Samantha Perry said. “Freshman year, I could barely sing in a group because I was embarrassed of how I’d sound. Now I audition for solos, leads in the musical, and am part of the chamber choir/Fourtes.”
Success in choir also depends on communication and collaboration. No one voice can carry the group; everyone has to work together to be in tune and on tempo.
“I’ve definitely learned how to communicate…without using words. Because when we’re singing, we can’t talk [to each other at the same time]. So we learn how to read each other’s body language and eye contact,” senior choir member Grace Lowmiller said.
Concerts allow students to showcase their skills, learning, and improvement. Brooks said that performances provide a chance to “share different music from different corners of the world.”
Concerts are a way of performance, but they are also an art. The way different voices can harmonise together to create angelic sounds that bounce off the walls of a room into our human ears can be magical.
“I personally don’t think there is anything more connecting than the ability to create music with your peers,” Perry said. “It’s one thing to sing along, but to combine sounds to create something entirely new expresses something words never could. It is a very connecting experience for my classmates, but also for those who come to hear it.”
Choir is about growth and connection. Through the classes, students can grow musically by learning the skills and techniques needed to become better singers. But it’s also about the friends students find within the program. “Personally, I’ve met more people who enjoy the stuff that I enjoy, who have become a joy in my life,” Lowmiller said.
Being in choir creates a community.“The whole choir itself is like the town, and your section (tenor, bass, alto, soprano) is a street, and you are a house on that street. So you have a home with your people, but you also have a home within the whole town (the whole choir),” Lowmiller said.
By combining the beauty of music with personal connection, the Lakewood choir department gives students the ability to be a part of something bigger than themselves.
