“Choir is a fun place where I feel comfort,” says 7th grader Brigid Jurgens.

Since the beginning of last year, there have been some positive changes to our school in a musical way. We now have a new and improved choir program. Mrs. Schumann, the choir teacher, has improved school concerts, as well as cantoring at school liturgies.  Cantoring is a great experience that builds confidence and provides the opportunity to sing in front of more people and become more involved in Mass. Mrs. Schumann is also the choir director at Dominican High School.  She has personally helped me become a better singer.

Some of the things that choir members learn include how to do solfège, the hand movements that show different pitches.  We also learn the sections of people with different voice ranges, such as soprano, alto and baritone. And as I said before, perhaps most importantly, Mrs. Schumann teaches us how to sing with confidence.

This past month in choir we have been working on a piece called “Carols Around” for the Sing for your Supper recording field trip the choir took on October 17. This field trip allowed us to be a part of a recording that will be made into a CD, which will include other schools’ choirs.  It will be sold to raise money for a homeless shelter. We are also going to have a concert very soon where we will be singing songs from Wicked, The Wiz, and The Wizard of Oz. This will be a concert with just the students in choir performing, and I encourage all of you to come.

Mrs. Schumann also gives us the opportunity to do show choir, an extra activity that you would have to try out for since Mrs. Schumann can only select a certain number of boys and girls to be parts of the group. Show choir started last year and is a big commitment.  We sang songs from the musical Grease, but the songs we sing this year will be decided after the tryouts.

Overall, choir is a great experience.  It is a place to have fun laugh and be serious all at the same time.  I know that a lot of people, including me, enjoy choir, as well as the many opportunities for singing offered by Mrs. Schumann.