On September 15, around 20 WCHS choir students went to sing at EKU with about 500 choir students from across the state. We were in the Center For the Arts the whole day, learning 3 songs that were later performed in the concert at 5:30. The songs that we sang were: “I Know I Have Been Changed,” “A Path to Each Other,” and “Agnus Dei.” Throughout the day, it became well known that “I Know I Have Been Changed” was the favorite song.

The trip to EKU was about 50 minutes to an hour long. On the way to EKU, Mr. Strickland gave everyone the music if they did not have it already, and he nominated people to audition for the solo in “I Have Been Changed.” Luke Cissell auditioned for the solo but did not get it. When we arrived, there were a lot of schools in the lobby and auditorium of the Center For the Arts. Every student received a t-shirt with “EKU Choral Day” on the front and the back.

Dr. Waters is the Head Director of EKU Choirs. He assisted in both of the practice groups. The practice groups divided the guys and girls (guys were basses and tenors, girls were sopranos and altos).  Dr. Campbell is an assistant professor at EKU Choirs and helped with both practice groups. They both demonstrated different techniques on how to sing vowels and learn the given music properly. After lunch, we divided into our practice groups.

There was a Chick-Fil-A, Moe’s, Panda Express, and Subway. Gavin went to Panda Express and Annabelle went to Moe’s. The lines were crowded, and it took about 20 minutes to get through one. After going through our respective lines, we met up at a table to catch up on what happened in our singing sections. Lunch lasted an hour before we had to walk back to the Center for the Arts.

When it was time for the concert, there were a few other choirs (we had to get 500 kids onto a stage). The stage was pretty big, but we were almost at the edge of the stage. It took a good couple of minutes to get everyone situated. The auditorium was pretty crowded, full of parents, grandparents, and anyone who wanted to watch and knew about the event.

When the concert began, a few college choirs sang before we did. The first group was called EnChor (an SSAA choir). They sang a song called “As The Rain Hides the Stars,” arranged by Elaine Hagenberg. The next group was two people from Opera Theatre. They sang a song from “A Little Nightmare Music.” After that, Koros (a TTBB choir) sang “De Animals a-Comin,” arranged by Marshall Bartholomew. Colin Hewitt graduated from WCHS last year and sings in Koros at EKU. After that, there was EKos (an acapella group) sang “I’ll Be Seeing You” by Irving Kahal & Sammy Fain, arranged by Phil Mattson. Then, there was a soloist (Joshua Wagner sang baritone, and Marie Banderman played piano) that sang “Is There Anybody Here That Loves My Jesus?” arranged by Undine Smith Moore. The University Singers sang “O Thou Great Power, in Whom I Love” by Anthony Maglione. Dr. Adria Sutherland accompanied them on the clarinet.

After all those groups were done singing, it was our turn to sing our pieces: “Agnus Dei” by Thomas Morley, “A Path to Each Other” by Jocelyn Hagen & Timothy Takach, and “I Know I’ve Been Changed” arranged by Damon Dandridge.

The concert as a whole was about an hour and a half long, but the high school singers had to be there all day. The concert went really well, and the day overall was amazing.