“I think it is important for all the various choirs students to get to know each other. It is important for me to have cohesiveness in the department,” choir director Bethany Houff said.

Houff ran the event, with the help of music teacher Ian Richard and out-of-school accompanist Hillary Irons.

In addition to practicing their six songs, each relating to the theme “A Celebration of American Music”, the four choirs played music games, learned new warm-ups, and listened to a story read by Houff about a foolish King who fires all of his royal fiddlers. The students were then asked to write why they think we need music, and Houff shared some of the responses at the concert.

“It’s exhausting to be on my feet for twelve hours and ‘on’ for twelve hours,” said Houff.

By dinner time at 5:00, some younger singers had joined the choir’s ranks. Choirs from THMS, directed by Kimly Schlabach, and SKMS, directed by Deobrah Mongold, presented two songs each.

“My favorite part was the final choir rehearsal with the little kids,” sophomore Rachel Cavoto said. Houff also relishes the opportunity to meet future highschoolers.

“I think it’s important for middle school students to know what a high school choir sounds like and looks like,” Houff said. Both middle school choirs and and high school choirs joined together for the concert finale, “How Can I Keep From Singing.”

“I had an amazing time,” Cavoto said. “I got to hang out with people I don’t see very often [and] I got to meet new people.”