Written by Phillip Myer
The last choir concert of the year was on Tuesday, May 5th, at 7:30pm. In addition to performing their current pieces, they also received awards. One award is earning a Varsity letter. Students who have participated in extra events can earn a Varsity letter for choir. The extra events are All-State auditions, Jazz Choir, small group contest, solo or ensemble, National Anthem singing, and the musical. The outstanding junior award this year went to Kennedi Blair and Connor Reagan. The American Choral Director Association award went to Mada Steburg and Nathan Reebenacker. The National School Choral award went to Natalee Reemtsma and Elijah Garrett.
In addition to the large concerts and performances, the choir has done many smaller singing events that add up in a big way. One of the things the choir does almost every day is sing happy birthday for classmates, family members, teachers, and friends. The choir either Facetimes or calls the people who have the birthday, or they have left the choir room and walked to them to sing. The choir has performed 36 National Anthems throughout the year for softball, wrestling, basketball, track, volleyball, cross country, swimming, and much more. In addition to singing in larger groups, there are some standout students who have participated in singing the National Anthem several times. Korbin Awe sung 13 National Anthems and Natalee Reemtsma sung 12. Reemtsma sang for all of the home softball games during the season last summer.
On Friday, May 8th, Algona hosted the State Large Group Festival. There were 17 choirs and 13 bands, including Algona, performing. The ratings range from Division 1 to 5, with one being a superior performance. The festival started at 3:40. The choirs perform in the high school gym while the bands performed in the Wilcox PAC. Algona’s choir performed at 8:05 and the band closed everything out with their performance at 9:15. The Algona choir was judged by three people and received scores of 38, 38, and 37 out of 40. The band received a perfect score from one judge and had a composite of 39 out of 40. Both the band and choir earned Division I ratings. “State Large Group Contest is a great event to host. All of the choirs and bands in the area perform right in our campus is awesome to see,” states Mr. HU.
To wrap up the school year, the choir will be singing “Slipping through My Fingers,” originally performed by ABBA, at the commencement ceremony. All nine seniors will be singing a solo together at the beginning of the song.