The lights dim as the crowd waits, full of anticipation. The audience is surrounded by a group of talented individuals. Within moments, the walls begin to echo with blended harmony, residing in the ears of those there to listen.

Within moments, we were surrounded by dozens of illuminated students. They greeted the crowd with a perfected performance of “It’s a Grand Night For Singing,” followed by “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The choir then transitioned back stage, leading up to a performance from Beginning Choir. They sang a total of three songs, all of which were executed very well. The group expressed lots of emotion; their sound was strong and blended near-perfectly. One song stood out specifically: “How Far I’ll Go.” The group seemed excited to perform this contemporary Disney tune.

Next came a strong performance from the Sierra Verde Choir. This group consisted of seventh and eighth grade students. The most outstanding part of their show was their acapella song, “Dona Nobis Pacem.” The way in which they kept their tempo and rhythm, as well as maintained exquisite harmony, was beyond impressive.

Following the middle school choir, came a marvelous performance from Ridge’s own Lioness group. The girls were accompanied by two students from drumline, who played the bongos and on a shaker during a song called “Bayushki Bayu.” The girls had outstanding pronunciation and energy throughout this song. However, we feel that one songs sung by Lioness really stood out. “Bring Me Little Water, Silvy” was a song in which the girls really embraced their own talents. They performed it and kept their own rhythm through stomps, snaps, and claps, configured in a set of motions, which made it quite the spectacle.

After Lioness, Chamber Choir did their performance. This group consists of seven very talented girls, including Allyson Britton, Grace Tice, Marisa Feore, Mia Murray, Abigail Parcell, Devyn Rowan, and Aria Temple. A key part of their production was “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” The girls demonstrated lots of enthusiasm and emotion through this song, and the crowd was greeted by smiles; it was an exciting, dramatic performance.

Terramar Academy of the Arts brought along a selection of multiple seventh and eighth graders, in a similar fashion to Sierra Verde. Two specific students were brought up to commence the performance. Though they were young, they both possessed supreme levels of confidence.

The men’s choir put on a very amusing display. The greatest feature of their performance was their amazing set of dance moves. The boys demonstrated lots of energy and enthusiastic emotion that made the show all the more engaging. The group sang “My Girl” and had two main soloists. Despite the group being small when compared to their peers, they were noticeably some of the most confident performers from the night as a whole.

Next, we will dive into the highlights of the show. Honor Choir performed “High Hopes,” which maintained some of the most vigour; it was wrought with liveliness. The show concluded with “A Million Dreams,” which was a collaboration on behalf of each choir present at the concert. Once again, the audience was surrounded. The lights went out, and each of the members drew a glowstick, thus once again illuminating the entire room. Then the lights came on, as they began to perform the song, during which everyone was heavily engaged. The song concluded with the lights going dim once again, and with the students waving their glow sticks towards the gleefully applauding crowd. Another stand out moment near the end of the concert was a song performed by the girls of honor choir. Adorned in blue, they sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

We would like to acknowledge the Ridge Choir director, Abel Dragomir, and the accompanist/clinician, Mrs. Cindy Durazo for their amazing organization of the performances. We would also like to recognize a few students who really stood out within the choir. These students include our very own newspaper staffer Devyn Rowan, Mia Murray, Kailee Dibble, and Jairyn Bullinger. These students were most notable for their display of passion; their passions made them some of the most fun to watch during the show.

In simpler terms, the performance was absolutely incredible. We highly recommend that you go check out the upcoming Winter Concert which will take place on the sixth of December. We know that we’re going!