The Greenhill Choir held its spring concert on April 2 at 7 p.m. in the Marshall Performing Arts Center.
The performance featured group numbers, small ensembles and solos. Rehearsals were cut short due to spring break, leaving some songs in need of additional attention.
“Pronunciation for the French song is a big thing,” junior Ruby Garza said. “Coming back from break and only having three classes to prepare has been weird, but it’s been super fun.”
Middle and Upper School Choir teacher Emmanuel Espiritu said the rehearsal process had its benefits and challenges.
“The spring semester has given us a chance to learn the music at our own pace while at the same time giving us time to work on our musicianship skills,” Espiritu said. “Having spring break did throw us off a little bit because it meant that we came back and had three rehearsals to polish everything.”
Typically, the concert would include senior solos, but with no seniors in the choir this year, opportunities were open for all choir members.
Espiritu said his decisions on solos and small groups were based on the singers’ interest.
“I asked them to think about the theme and decide if a song spoke to them,” Espiritu said. “If they found a song they wanted to do, they auditioned for some judges and myself.”
As the concert approached, the singers reflected on their preparations and had mixed emotions leading up to the performance.
“I’m definitely really excited,” Garza said. “There’s a little bit of nerves, but we’re grinding through these last few classes.”
For Garza, the most rewarding part of the choir is the sense of unity.
“When everybody sings together, and our voices really mesh, we sound like one voice,” Garza said. “That’s the best part, when we finish a song and everyone sits there like, ‘Oh, that was actually really good.’”
Espiritu said this spring concert is especially special to him, and he is excited to see the performance come together.
“I’m just nervous about this being my first spring concert here at Greenhill,” Espiritu said. “This is a concert that I’m going to remember for a long time, so I want to try to make sure everything goes smoothly, but when I get up on stage I will forget all about the nerves and just enjoy making music with my students.”
