By themselves, the choirs at Springdale’s three middle schools are great, but when the best students from all those choirs come together, they're even better. Students did just that for the City Honor Choir Festival, and you'd never guess they only practiced together for just a few hours!
The voices of Springdale’s best choir students filled the air for the City Honor Choir Festival. Students from all the city's middle schools, J.O. Kelly, Hellstern and Helen Tyson, came together to perform songs they've been practicing on their own for months.
"We've been practicing a long time just in our separate schools,” one student says. “And then we all came together and he worked out all the choreography and just like extra little things there and we worked a lot like nonstop."
The day started hours before the performance, when students separated into boys and girls choirs and attended a music clinic. For the ladies, Bill Burrows taught them technique, and how to focus their voices, and bring their songs to life.
"It was really fun just to be able to come together with all the middle schools and sing cause were not used to singing with them were just used to singing with our own teachers,” another student says. “So it was different to learn how they sing."
The Boys Honor Choir learned from clinician Andrew Davitt, everything from dance moves to blending their changing voices and sound as one. And students say they not only learned from their clinician, but from each other.
"You get to know so many people in your regular choir you get so used to singing with them and you get with other people and it's amazing how you can just make so many friends in less than five hours," says one honor choir member.
Students say they were proud to show what they're family and friends what they learned. And say the things they learned in their clinic will stick with them long after the last song.
"All our rehearsals that we've done together,” the boys honor choir member says, “It's getting us used to concerts. I used to be really not so great at the stage but now it's just second nature basically."
The Springdale's middle schools get together and hold this festival every year.