West Ranch’s choir program proudly presented its annual end of the year spring concert on May 8th at 7 p.m. A few minutes before the concert began, audience members rushed into the theater to take their seats, eagerly awaiting the performances that lay in store for them. The stage was set, the choir was prepared and the concert was ready to begin.
To kick off the show, the concert choir and treble choir performed “Calypso” by Cristian Grases, a fun and upbeat piece that takes inspiration from the many unique, catchy rhythms and sounds that surround the region of the Caribbean. Both choirs also sang “Lead with Love” by Melanie Demore, a moving and emotional song featuring four soloists—Micah Viudez, Daniela Dolan, Shriya Nandagiri and Drew Crawford.
West Ranch’s choir director Mrs. Peters revealed the behind-the-scenes rehearsal process: “We rehearse every other day in class for our 95-minute block, and we use almost every minute for rehearsal and text study.” She added, “We study theory and sight reading as a whole class and use those skills to read our music in class.” The choir’s hard work and dedication showed throughout the duration of the concert.
After the joint performance, the concert choir exited the stage, leaving the treble choir to present the next few songs, which included “Dona Nobis Pacem” by Brian Tate and “Java Jive” by Ben Oakland and Milton Drake, arranged by Kirby Shaw. “Java Jive” also featured a few soloists—Nolyn Lennon, Evelyn Zaldivar, Lin Antonio and Luca Wei. The treble choir presented two more songs, the first one being “Cerf Volant,” a French song from the movie “Les Choristes” by Bruno Coulais, featuring a solo by Teagan Fujiki and the second song being “Johnny Said, No!” by Vijay Singh.
Senior treble choir member Mia Ramirez explained, “I always had a thing for music, and when I found out that choir happened to be a thing in junior high I decided to join.” Additionally, she added, “When I found out Mrs. Peters was still teaching in high school I decided to automatically join in and continue throughout the rest of it, as I do admire and respect Mrs. Peters a lot and the choir itself.”
The concert choir then returned to the stage, and Southern California Vocal Association (SCVA) solo finalist Elina Ghosh amazed the audience with a performance of Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand.” As Ghosh performed her solo, her fellow choir members proudly watched her deliver a heartfelt performance on stage. Freshman concert choir member Alice Chen expressed her thoughts on Ghosh’s performance: “She can hold high notes for such a long time and there is always so much power and control behind each note. It truly was an amazing performance.”
Soon after, the two choirs joined together once again to perform the last few remaining songs of the concert. They started off with “Bogoroditse Devo ” by Sergei Rachmaninoff, followed by “Rise Up, My Fair One,” a contemporary ballad arranged by Healy Willian. “Truth” by Zanaida Robles featured many soloists including Anayis Simoyan, Gabby King, Evelyn Zaldivar, Gwen Dorio, Mia Blanco, Ali Sweis, Addison Kohl, Luca Wei, Elina Ghosh, Inari Mullins and Sai Castor. Then came “Wanting Memories” by Ysaye Barnwell, with Jay Verebes, Nolyn Lennon and Avery Bevers leading the song, as well as “Nothin’ Gonna Stumble my Feet” arranged by Greg Gilpin. Lastly, they performed “Maquerule,” arranged by Julian Gomez Girlado, a traditional piece from Colombia featuring a solo by Sophia Mendoza.
After singing all of their main songs, the choir performed two more songs that were from their festival set: “Emerald Stream” by Seth Houston and lastly, “TaReKiTa” by Reena Esmail.
As the concert drew to a close, the seniors surprised Mrs. Peters by singing “Go the Distance” from Disney’s Hercules as a way to express their gratitude.
When the choir finished their final song of the night, the audience burst into loud applause. Choir concert attendee Shaiel Tapia expressed, “I have never been to a choir concert before but all I have to say is bravo, I can really see how much hard work and dedication the choir put into this concert.” Choir truly gave it their all for this final performance, ending the school year with a showstopping performance.
