On the evening of Thursday, Mar. 9, West Ranch choir hosted their annual Solo night concert alongside West Ranch’s theater program members. Solo night not only allowed many students to demonstrate their love for both theatrical and vocal professions, but also gave students an opportunity to feature their personal growth and talents.

        Mrs. Peters, West Ranch’s choir teacher, expressed that “This is a night to highlight our small ensembles and solo singers. We are teaming [up] with the award winning theater department to give our audience a smaller, more intimate night with monologues, individual scenes and songs.”

      After the concert, The Paw Print was able to interview some of the performers and their experiences on stage.

      Sophomore Mia Blanco, a member of West Ranch’s choir program, performed a harmonious duet with her close friend, Ali Sweis, on the piano to the song “When I was Your Man” by Bruno Mars. Blanco explained her thoughts of solo night and its comeback.

      “Solo night, to me, is an opportunity to hang out with friends and show off what I’ve been practicing in choir and how much I love singing,” Blanco expressed. “I’m used to performing, but I think performing in a school environment in front of people that I’m close to and people who I care about will really help me with my confidence and self esteem.”

      When asked why she chose to participate in solo night, Blanco revealed, “I chose to participate in solo night because Ali invited me and I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I was also inspired by the past solo nights from last year and I thought it was going to be super fun.”

      Performing for both theater and choir, senior Alex Brewer sang a cover of “Something in the Orange” by Zack Bryan. Brewer also performed “Alice in Wonderland.” Brewer illustrated the importance of his emotional song choice: “I chose Something in the Orange, because it has a very touching story. It reminded me of my late cat and I wanted to sing a song for her.” 

      After many theater performances, Brewer took the time to reflect on his advances in confidence. “I definitely had growth in my projection skills. At the start of this year you couldn’t even hear me from the middle row of seats. I felt at ease on the stage. I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am. I would rate my performance a 10/10 because I think it was the best I’ve ever done,” he explained.

      With that being said, Cats, make sure to mark your calendars for future events to help support our choir and theater. They will “perform again on April 14th with Rancho Pico JHS and the Newhall Elementary choirs, and our end of the year concert is Tuesday, May 9th. All concerts start at 7:00pm and will be held in the West Ranch theater. Admission is $10; $5 with an ASB card,” Ms. Peters said.

       Through various crowd-favorites and lively performances, the concert surely is a night remembered as an exciting event. Congratulations to all the singers and performers, each performance was magical!