All grades of choir gathered at the Dean Lesher Center on May 22 to celebrate the class of 2015 with a final concert.
Seniors were given certificates for their commitment to the program by choir director Mark Roberts.
Roberts said, “Some of the awards were chosen by students themselves, other awards were chosen by staff who work with students in specific areas, for instance the music theatre. The only 3 that I was involved in choosing the body of the students work, not only for this year but for most of them, their work over 4 years being involved in the program.”
Sophomore Nathan Correll said, “It’s pretty exciting because we have been working so hard and we finally reached that last moment, but at the same time it sucks to see all of the seniors go.”
Sophomore Abe Soane noted, “The seniors are the people have been in this program a while. They are like mentors and friends.”
Correll added, “People like Peter Jones are like father figures to us.”
Roberts was also given an award by the seniors for all of his hard work. “It was a difficult year for me because my wife and I had a baby and that made it unique as I was taking time off and stuff like that, but I am happy with the way the year went,” Roberts said.
Freshman Matt Protzen said, “I am extremely happy, I think it went very well, and that all of the choirs did a very good job. I think that every song was very unique and they all had their own flavor.”
The seniors that are leaving were Robert’s first class when he began teaching choir at Campolindo. There will be a deficit of men in choir next year after the seniors leave. “There are certainly a lot of them, a lot of senior males, so that will be a big challenge next year to try and fortify the choir with enough guys based on how many we are losing,” said Roberts.
Soane said, “We have such a close bond with all of the seniors and all that, but it is nice to see another successful year.”
All of the groups performed well, even with the challenges of singing in different languages and styles. The songs varied from Russian folk songs to ambient mountain songs. Roberts said, “That’s one of the more consistent feedbacks I receive is that the students really like the repertoire selections, that they enjoy the diversity or the uniqueness of the songs that they perform. Especially when we go to places where we perform with other choirs they tend to appreciate the repertoire.”
There were some problems however. “There was definitely some technical difficulties and all but besides that the music was great.” Soane said, “It could have been a little more tap dancing, I would have enjoyed tap dancing,” said Carrel.
Protzen said, “I think that I would cut some songs out because while they were all very good the concert seemed to run very long.”
Roberts explained that there is a lot to be considered in selecting the set list. “There’s lots of factors. Varying the different tempi from one piece to the next, a variation of languages, a variation of historical periods, cultures, diversity within the set and the program- that is all of the choirs. Specific places where the music is going to be performed for instance influences that. A couple of the pieces were required selections for a competition we participated in. There are a lot of ways I arrive at it but the strongest overriding diversity throughout each set and throughout the program itself,” he said.
The concert is the conclusion of a year’s worth of work. “It is the nature of how the students learn in this class, that’s sort of the culminating assessment or project if you will. That would be the term used in an academic class so to speak. It’s the fruition of all the work that they do during the year,” Roberts said.
