On March 7, the FHN choirs participated in the Large Ensemble State Contest. Treble choir, concert choir and Knightsound all performed. This event takes place every year during the school day, allowing the students to leave school to show off their singing abilities. The way each school is judged is by a one to five rating, one being the best. There are certain things that the judges are looking for, as well as listening for, such as stage appearance, tone quality, dynamics, etc. The accompanist Rachel Juhlin was a former Knightsound member who sang in the same competition when she was in high school.

“My favorite part is just being in the moment as a performer,” Juhlin said. “When you get that really awesome chord it is like a feeling of success and just being apart of something that is so much bigger than myself.”

Each choir started out performing two songs. All three of the choirs received a rating of one on their performance. Directly after the performance they went straight to sight reading. Sight reading is where each member in the choir gets the same piece of music, that they have never seen before, and they have to perform it to the best of their abilities. They start off with solfège the first time- singing the notes as do, re, mi, etc- and then they run through it a second time, but this time singing the words of the song. Sight reading is also graded on a one to five scale. Both treble choir and concert choir received a two in sight reading. They also got a chance to experience other choir performances from the audience.

“My favorite part is just to see who you are going up against and listening to the different styles in which people sing,” senior Devynnaair Griffin said.

Chamber choir, or Knightsound, performed with all the choirs. All the ladies in Knightsound performed with treble choir and all of Knightsound performed with concert choir. It is required by MSHAA to have all chamber choir members perform with choirs of similar voices. This rule applies for every school. All together, for competition, the Knightsound ladies had to learn six pieces of music and the men had to learn four. On top of that Knightsound is preparing for their competition in Disney.

“We really start to feel like a family, together as one, and getting into the groove of the music is just all around a nice experience,” Junior Knightsound member Nataya Jelks-Johnson said.

There is a bus that takes the choirs to their destination. The bus ride to FZE was quiet, because everyone was careful not to strain their voice. After competition however was a different story. The bus took everyone to a little strip mall for lunch. People had a variety of choices from Taco Bell to Shogun. On the way back to school is when the fun began. People started breaking out into song and one after another other members of the choir joined in until a majority of the choir was singing along. It was almost like a way of celebrating the achievement that the whole choir worked so hard for.

“I enjoy getting to watch the students I care so very much about grow so much from start to finish,” Choir Director Jennifer Crane said. “The excitement of being on stage, creating an incredible music experience, and an emotional moment, and getting to share that with them and knowing that they accomplished something phenomenal is my favorite part.”