As festival season approaches, Chamber Choir rehearsals are kicking into high gear. According to Choir teacher, James Halvorson, the biggest shift isn’t in what they do, but in how much attention they give to the details. As the festival gets closer, rehearsals focus more on making sure the impact of each piece matches the level of singing. The festival music is some of the most challenging music that the group performs all year, but is also some of the most rewarding. This means that every student has to be fully committed during every rehearsal.

Halvorson states, “The rehearsals for the festival aren’t significantly different from any other concert or performance. What changes is the attention to detail and the importance of making the visual and emotional impact of the music meet the singing level of the ensemble. The repertoire is our most challenging and rewarding music of the year and every student needs to make a full commitment to the ensemble during every rehearsal for us to meet our performance goals.”

Halvorson explains the work that Chamber Choir puts in every day during rehearsal, and how they have to have more attention to detail and focus during festival time. With higher expectations and more challenging music, students are required to stay consistently engaged and detail-oriented each day in rehearsal.

This year, that focus has been especially important due to major changes within the ensemble, as the group has had to adjust not only musically, but also as a team.

“This year saw a large turnover of new members to the Chamber Singers as we graduated 19 seniors from the group last year and we grew in membership,” He continued. “With that has come some growing pains as singers see the difference of expectation and demand that this ensemble demands to keep our high level of performances.”

While the transition came with its challenges, Halvorson says the progress the group has made over time has been encouraging. As students have grown more comfortable with the expectations of the ensemble, their mindset and work ethic have continued to improve, leading to a stronger sense of unity and motivation within the choir.

Halvorson explains, “What is most encouraging is now that we are starting to hit our stride as an ensemble, students are getting more excited, more engaged and willing to do the extra things outside of class so that we can push each other to even higher levels of performance.”