The Catholic Schools’ Music Celebration is a wonderful experience for not only the musicians in it but the audience as well. On this day, kids gather to create an unparalleled musical experience for all those in attendance.

The celebration is a “festival of Music in catholic Schools where schools in the area get together to collaborate through their choirs, bands, and strings students,” says the Strings teacher here at St. Robert, Mr. Perez. The festival includes the Band, Choir, and Strings students of Dominican High school, Holy Apostle, Holy Family, Lumen Christi, St. Agnes, St. Eugene, St. Francis Borgia, St. Monica and St. Robert. According to Mr. Perez,  the celebration “Gives the students of the participating schools a chance to share their talents, learn from each other, and perform for the community.”  

The Catholic Schools’ Music Celebration gives  the participating students a chance to share their talents because the celebration combines all the middle school students from the Catholic schools in the area to join in on the fun. All the students have only one day to rehearse with each other before the concert at night, where they will show off their talents.

The celebration also gives the students a chance to learn from each other.  Some schools only have access to specific instruments. However, when that person gets together with other instrumentalists like themselves, it gives them a chance to learn from each other. They experience a collision of sound they may never have experienced before without a full orchestra. Those from differing schools that share an instrument, may also pick up on new techniques or strategies while working together.

Before the concert in the evening, students attend  multiple workshops to get used to playing with the students from other schools. For the people in band, the workshops include practicing with other people that play the same instrument, practicing the piece for the evening and having a dress rehearsal on the stage. On the other hand, Madeline, a choir student at St. Robert, explains that “we start with warm ups. Then we practice our pieces. After that, we have these people come in to tell us how to use our voices properly. There is also a barbershop choir that comes in ect.”  For those involved in strings, the experience is pretty similar to the band, but they only have practice their songs and have a dress rehearsal. All of the sessions for both band and choir are taught by teachers, professionals, and other artists.

At the end of the day, all the students get to perform to the community. This is important because  no other concert gives the students participating a chance to share their talents with people other than their parents and fellow classmates. Here, they are able to share their talents beyond their own school community to those of other Catholic schools. Students also claimed that they thought that everyone thought it was a great experience and that they all had fun.

To sum it all up, the Catholic Schools Music Celebration not only enriches the lives of the students participating, but is a learning experience for all, and is a fun day as well.