Christmas is one of the busiest seasons of the year, and it does not stop for the James Buchanan Chorus members. A lot is happening for the Chorus this time of year, which kicked off with District Chorus Auditions at the end of October, then to a trip to the American Music Theatre, and lastly the annual Christmas Concert in December.

Mr. Eric Poe (Faculty), requires junior and senior Messa Voce members to audition for District Chorus. Pennsylvania is split up into twelve different districts, and auditions are held for any high school student who would like to try out. Judges then rate each student’s audition, and if the singer’s performance is satisfactory, they will then be inducted into the District Chorus. He also makes it optional for tenth grade members of Messa Voce to audition if they feel prepared.

“Districts is a great learning experience for students,” Poe stated. “Preparing the audition is a lot of hard work. It prepares them for future experiences when learning how to practice in advance.”

Poe gives the required students the music they have to sing in May of the previous school year. They have about five months to prepare their audition. The audition consists of two songs, one that is accompanied, meaning a pianist performs the piece with the singer, and the other song is acapella, where the performer sings with no instruments. They are scored on these two songs out of 450. The singers are scored on five categories, rhythm, intonation, interpretation, technique, and tone with each section worth fifteen points. If you are in the top 25 of auditioners, you make it into District Chorus.

Logan Williams (11) and Patrick Hicks (10) had a very impressive audition: they tied for place 26, only one spot away from making it into the District Chorus. Poe has the ability to send one student to the District Chorus concert as a representative of James Buchanan High School, and he usually chooses the highest scoring member; this year Williams will be representing the school in the District Chorus Concert.

There was not much time to celebrate after the auditions; the Chorus then had to begin preparing for their trip on Nov 15.

“Many of the students in chorus went on the trip to the American Music Theater in Lancaster where we sang carols then watched their annual Christmas show,” Chorus member, Korina Williams (12) said.

Prior to the show the Chorus, directed by Poe, performed their carols for the audience.

“We sang Christmas carols in the rotunda as people got their drinks, refreshments, and found their seats,” Jackie Wagaman (11) said.

The chorus is now in full swing into preparing for their upcoming Christmas Concert on Dec, 17 at 3:00 p.m. They have spent a lot of time preparing a wide variety of genres and songs, including Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” “Christmas in de Tropics,” “Winter Song,” “The Twelve Groovy Days of Christmas,” “Ding-a Dinga-a Ding,” “Hallelujah Chorus,” and “We Need A Little Christmas.”

There are several featured soloists within these songs as well.  In Vivaldi’s Gloria Chelsea Wareham (11), Korina Williams (12), Lauren Fleming (12) will be performing solos. Kayla Myers (12) and Kierstyn Martin (12) also have a duet. Jackie Wagaman (11), Jacob Troupe (10), and Olivia Harmon (11) have also been given solos in Christmas in de Tropics. Sierra Suffecool (12) and Ella Heckman (10) also were just recently rewarded solos in Winter Song.

Learning and perfecting several different songs can be very demanding for the chorus. Some of the songs even have different languages within: Vivaldi’s “Gloria” is completely in Latin.

“The most difficult part of preparing for the concert is Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria,’” Williams said.  “There are twelve movements all in Latin, and the music is intermediate to advanced.”

It is not just the difficulty of a song that the students struggle with, but also musical factors like tone, dialect, rhythm, and their own musicality.  For another Chorus member, Wagaman faces different obstacles in the music.

“I have to say personally for me it’s rhythm,” Wagaman said. “You can have the sweetest voice, you can have the best dictation of your pronunciations, but if you do not feel the music, what’s the point?”

The songs are not just difficult but also very enjoyable for the students to sing.

“The most enjoyable song is most likely “Ding-a Ding-a Ding” because it is fast paced and very fun,” William’s states.  

Lots of preparations have been being made to perfect the Christmas Concert. From District Chorus auditions strengthening musical techniques, to performing carols, all of this gets the chorus into the Christmas spirit for their upcoming concert.