Story by Grace Kelly
The choir performed in the KSHSAA large group competition, receiving a II or “Excellent” rating. The choir brought 22 soloists, Chanterelles, Madrigals, and concert choir to the festival held at Wichita North High School.
Choirs, ensembles, and soloists are rated on a scale from one (I) to five (V), with judges awarding points to participants based on tone, intonation, expression, diction, rhythmic and note accuracy, balance, blend, and appearance.
Junior Hailey Travnichek reflected on her ensemble’s performance, saying, “I feel really good about our performance, but I think we could have blended a little better and displayed more emotion.”
The Chanterelles and Madrigals ensembles both received I or “Superior” rating, nine soloists received a I or “Superior” rating and 11 soloists received a II or “Excellent” rating. The Chanterelles, Madrigals, and I rated soloists will be travelling to the state festival for soloists and ensembles on April 25 at Emporia High School.
“I felt very good about my performance, but I still feel that I could have done better,” said junior Jessi Exley, who received a I or “Superior” rating on her solo. “I have a few things I need to fix, but luckily I have another chance to perform at the state festival.”
Mrs. Seiler’s hopes for the festival included receiving all I ratings. This year, Seiler selected harder music for the competition than she has in previous years. Her goals for the choir were met when they learned the new, more difficult music. Seiler felt that the choir sang the harder literature quite well at the festival.
“The choir definitely exceeded my expectations with their performance,” said Seiler. “There were some ups and downs for some of the soloists with hard judges, but every member of the choir sang to the best of their abilities.”