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|  UMD Honor Choir under the direction of Brian Stubbs from Brainerd High School - photo by Colleen Belgum  NHS Choir members, Tori Howard, Sarah Fairbanks, Haley White, and Caitlin Engen participated in the UMD Honor Choir - photo by Colleen Belgum | Twenty-seven High Schools Participate in University of Minnesota Duluth Honor ChoirBy Colleen Belgum On October 26th, Caitlin Engen, Sarah Fairbanks, Tori Howard, and Haley White, members of the Northland High School Choir, went with Ms. Belgum to spend the day in Duluth with the University of Minnesota High School Honor Choir. Twenty-seven schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin sent their top students to perform under the direction of Brian Stubbs, the director at Brainerd High School who was the clinician for the day. Rehearsals started at 8:30 am and ended with a concert at 4 pm in the Weber Recital Hall that included the High School Honor Choir, the U of M Chamber Singers, the U of M Concert Chorale, as well as the university’s vocal jazz group, Lake Effect. I asked the four members of the choir to each write a short paper about their day in Duluth. Here are some excerpts: “My honor choir experience was a memorable one and visiting UMD was pretty fun, even when two of us got lost! At the end of the day, I was sore, tired and really cranky, but all of the things I had learned during the day made it all worth while. I learned how to sing warmly, like a 40 year old woman. The instructor was really fun and he pushed us for the best.” “I had the privilege to participate in Honor Choir at UMD and it was a wonderful experience. Not only did we get the chance to improve our singing, we also got to see and hear three different types of college choirs. I had fun, learned a lot and would definitely like to go again!” “I liked having the opportunity to work with students from other schools. It was a whole new sound to hear with about 100 girls and 100 boys in the choir.” “I learned that having boys in a choir can make your choir much more diverse. I liked the performances that the UMD Choirs did. They were very good, creative and fun.” “I especially liked the ‘Tribute to Michael Jackson’ that was done by the Lake Effect jazz group. A few of the singers made instrumental and percussion sounds while others sang a medley of Michael Jackson’s songs. It was cool how they used new things with old music.” “To top off the day, we ate at Olive Garden after the concert, and our waiter was a babe.” “It was awesome! Thank you Ms. Belgum for taking us!” | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northland Press | P.O. Box 145 | Outing, MN 56662 | (218) 692-5842 Email: news@northlandpress.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
