On Thursday, April 24, Francis Howell North’s Knightsound, also known as Chamber Choir, traveled to Tampa Florida to compete

in the Festivals of Music, also known as Music in the Park, at Gaither High School. The team returned on the following Sunday, April 27, with plenty of new awards to add to their already large collection. One of which was the Outstanding Soloist award that was given to sophomore Andrew Stoker.

“I thought that my friend was going to get it and then they called my name and my head just kind of bolted up and I was like ‘Oh my gosh! They just said my name!’” Stoker said.

Besides the Outstanding Soloist award, the group also earned first place in their division and received the highly coveted Esprit De Corps, or Spirit of Competition.

“We were all pretty laid back at the awards,” choir teacher Lorraine Smith said, “We were kind of whatever about it, but then we were super excited when Andrew got his award, because that was the first one we found out about, and that just kind of built from there.”

The awards ceremony took place at Busch Gardens, an African themed amusement park, and lasted from about 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. But the competition was not the only thing that the trip consisted of. On Friday, the day before the competitions, the group spent the day at the beach. And while most just got the taste of the sun rays, seniors Luke Ellison and Vlad Shultsev went jet skiing.

“Jet skiing on the ocean was pretty cool.” Ellison said, “Jet skiing with the dolphin that was my favorite.”

But no matter how fun the beach or jet skiing may be, for some, the highlight was the night before the trip back home when most of the group gathered together and had some bonding time.

“On Saturday night we stayed up late and just chatted,” Andrew said, “It reminded me that Knightsound is a family.”