The Fine Arts Academy had its annual fall concerts during the final week of October.
During the week of Oct. 27–31, the choir, orchestra, and band of HHS showcased their talents by performing for an audience of fellow students and parents, with the choir performing on Tuesday, the orchestra on Wednesday, and the band on Thursday.
With the choir being the first out of the Fine Arts Academy to have its concert, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation for their performances. The choir also had the most interesting concert setup, as it featured the three different groups of the program: Bel Canto, Concert Choir, and Master Singers.
All three of these groups had unique and phenomenal performances, with Bel Canto performing classical music like “Ave Verum Corpus” by Wolfgang A. Mozart, Concert Choir performing the classic ’70s hit “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, and Master Singers performing a song popular in the choir world, “In Remembrance” by Eleanor Daley.
The Master Singers also had a very memorable church choir-themed performance of the song “Shout Glory!” by Byron Smith. The group wore choir robes and sang their hearts out while clapping and moving side to side, like any church choir would do. One of the members of the Master Singers, senior Miles Taylor, had a significant solo part during this number.
“It was really nerve-racking when I first found out I got to sing a solo part, but once I did it on stage, I felt a lot better afterward,” Taylor said.
Many people praised Taylor for his performance after the concert. Still, another person who caught the attention of the audience and the hearts of the choir students was the substitute teacher for all three choir groups, Ariel Williams. While the choir teacher, Lauren Eakes Loving, was gone for the beginning of the year, Williams taught, toned, and conducted these choir groups throughout the entire semester, preparing them for their fall concert.
“We learned our parts using practice charts, and we all really focused on the parts of the songs that we struggled with, but once we accomplished that, we started adding in the fun stuff like dynamics and movements of the body,” said junior and member of the Master Singers Alexiana Concha.
Not only was Williams praised by the audience for her phenomenal job conducting these performances, but she was also praised by her students. Before their last performance, two members of the Master Singers surprised her with a giant thank-you card signed by all her students, along with a gift bag and flowers. It was truly a heartwarming moment, and it clearly showed how well she did subbing for her students’ teacher, Eakes Loving.
“It was a wonderful experience, and the students were so great and welcoming, and it was just overall amazing for my first year of teaching,” Williams said.
