Midtown Chorus’s 10th annual Friendship Festival welcomed students from the four elementary and two middle schools in the Midtown cluster to sing together in one concert on Sept. 30.
All of the schools sang “Sing a Song” by Earth, Wind & Fire together, and the entire chorus, with the exception of the Midtown boys chorus, sang “One Voice” by The Wailin’ Jennys. Additionally, each elementary and middle school had their own individual songs.
Advanced Treble Chorus student sophomore Ella Thomas believes the Friendship Festival gave her an opportunity to interact with chorus students of all ages.
“It was really cool to see a different class that I hadn’t talked with or experienced before, because I [already] know what Mastery Treble sounds like, and I know what the girls sound like,” Thomas said. “I hadn’t yet heard the boys perform this year, so it was really fun to see that.”
Senior Zoe Diamond-Wilding, a student in the Mastery Chorus class, has attended Friendship Festival since elementary school, and said she has fond memories of the concert.
“We sang [‘One Voice’] at my first Friendship Fest when I was in fourth grade, and then we sang it again this year,” Diamond-Wilding said. “It was really sweet to have that full circle of the environment.”
Before the concert began, elementary school students participated in a singing workshop where they rehearsed and practiced vocal exercises. Diamond-Wilding enjoyed watching them make new friends and spending time with the students she already knew from volunteering for chorus at Springdale Park Elementary School.
“A lot of them know me or they remembered me from last year and they were like, ‘Zoe!’ and that was really sweet,” Diamond-Wilding said. “Also, [I loved] getting to see the kids from the different choruses talking to each other and laughing with each other. They were all becoming friends.”
Advanced Tenor Bass Chorus student sophomore Jaxson Weeks sang a solo in “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel, and “Sing a Song.” Weeks said he enjoyed both songs and the experience of working with elementary aged students.
“My favorite moment was at the end, not only because we did ‘Sing a Song,’ the group song, but also because all the teachers and directors got recognized,” Weeks said. “Also, you could tell in the elementary kids’ faces that they were really proud of how far they’ve come with the piece.”
Thomas believes the purpose of Friendship Festival is to inspire elementary and middle school students to join Midtown chorus, as well as guide students in their singing.
“[Friendship Festival] is to show them the future of what you can sound like and where the pathway takes you, so you’re encouraged to follow along it,” Thomas said. “You see the highest level that you can perform at and you’re encouraged to follow to that level because it’s so amazing.”
Hope-Hill Elementary School chorus teacher Colleen Kingston said the Friendship Festival gave her an opportunity to see former students and allowed for her students to make new friends who may be their future classmates.
“Seeing my former Hope-Hill students on stage with the middle and high school choirs made me feel so much joy knowing that they are continuing their musical journey,” Kingston said. “I also loved spending time with the other [Midtown] cluster music teachers. I have the best colleagues. Watching my students’ faces light up as they performed made me so happy for them; for some of them it was their very first time performing.”
Weeks believes chorus can connect Midtown’s singing community because of the unique experiences it provides.
“[Singing] creates a unity,” Weeks said. “Specifically with chorus, when you hit a harmony, when you’re singing the same note or a layered harmony, you can really feel it. That group feeling is unattainable any other way.”
