Concert choirs and chamber singers from Campolindo, Acalanes, and Miramonte took a field trip to Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church on October 16.
The day went smoothly according to Choir Director Mark Roberts. “We basically had a day of rehearsals as an entire group. Each individual school sang and received feedback,” he said.
Students were able to interact with other musicians from Campolindo as well as Acalanes and Miramonte. Roberts thought that socializing with peers was “a very important aspect of the day.”
Roberts hoped to have the students broaden their music experience. “We have to understand that music exists outside of Campolindo and audiences are from outside of just their parents,” he said.
“It was important for all the choirs to meet up and meet each other and sing,” Senior Will Martin said.
The students sang, listened to and commented on fellow musicians’ work.
Dr. Jeffrey Benson, choral director at San Jose State University, came to help the students. Roberts found Benson’s presence a big help. “He had an amazing amount of energy. He was very enthusiastic. His unique talents were beneficial to the students,” he said.
Martin, both a chamber singer and a concert choir singer, also thought that Benson was a good resource. “He was great. He gave us a lot of energy throughout the whole thing. It was very helpful, and everyone was focused on him. He made it as fun as possible,” he said.
Martin thought the time with fellow singers from other schools was very important. He already knew people from years past, and enjoyed the music experience. Students from the 3 high schools gave constructive criticism which Martin said could help Campolindo students improve.
“I learned how to use the music that we’ve practiced before and how it can be used differently. Now we can take the songs that we sang on the trip and sing them again in a new way,” said Martin.
The singers were excused from all of their classes for the day of rehearsal, then returned in the evening to perform for an audience.
