PHOTO STORY: Choir showcase returns to stage after two years of stillness

  • Choir returns with their 7th Buena High School Vocal Showcase.

  • Junior Sawyer Reeder starts off the night with his first ever solo, singing “The Villian I Appear to Be” by Connor Spiotto. The YouTube animation for the song accompanies Reeder as he sings. With 11 years of choir experience under his belt, Reeder performs a nostalgic favorite, a tune he’d been listening to since the 6th grade. “I’ve been having a lot of issues lately with people thinking that I’m doing stuff for the wrong reasons but I’m just trying my best. The best I can do is try my best,” Reeder said.

  • (From left to right) First and only quartet of the night, junior Sawyer Reeder, freshman Elizabeth Gose, freshman Luna Hrdina-Rivera, and sophomore Nicole Lara perform “Rises the Moon” by Liana Flores. The four would use any chance they had to practice, from the dressing rooms to the stage, their hard work paid off. “I kept the recording and all the pictures from the night, I felt accomplished because we had all practiced so hard,” Lara said.

  • Junior Marimar Ilias sings “Love in the Dark” by Adele. As an avid Adele fan and first-time performer, this song is something Ilias believed everyone can find relatable. “I was a little too nervous which made my voice a little shaky but I think I did good for my first time,” Ilias said.

  • “Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy, performed by senior Heaven Rhodes. The song symbolizes a period of growth, from when she first auditioned the song in her freshman year to the time she got to perform it in her senior year. While she recognizes the romantic intention of the song, she interprets it differently showcasing her relationship with family and friends.

  • Senior Renee Morales sings “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. This is her first year in choir where she decided to conquer her fear of the stage and instead embrace her love of singing with a fun song. “I was nervous but I was also excited,” Morales said. “I’ve been working really hard with Downey on the solo and it came out better than I thought. I just had fun.”

  • Junior Annalise Yenney and senior Mariah Young sing “If I Could Fly” by One Direction. A fun song that started as a joke, the performance ended in roars from the crowd screaming their names. “I think at first we were nervous because you don’t know what you’re gonna do but when we got there it was fine,” Young said.

  • “A New Life” from the musical Jekyll & Hyde is sung by senior Riley Corner. While this was her first year in a school choir, Corner has experience in performing before voice coaches. As a musical lover, Corner pushed herself to sing a song that required more breath support. “I ended up being slightly more nervous than I had anticipated but it was mostly because it was the first time I had performed in front of an audience on my own for about maybe four years,” Corner said. It was a performance she said she is proud of.

  • Junior Roselyn Vera and senior Renee Morales sing “I Think I Kinda, You Know” by Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. With matching outfits and a choreographed performance, the two saw their hard work pay off when the crowd whistled and cheered their names.

  • “Love” by senior Mariah Young who returns to the stage with an original song. Originally from Illinois, this is Young’s first year at Buena but has been in choir since 4th grade. “I actually wrote the song that I performed two days before I showed it in class so when I performed it at the concert, it wasn’t even a week old yet. I wanted to perform an original song because I write songs a lot so I just decided to show the world,” Young said.

  • Junior Roselyn Vera comes back to sing “Hope Ur Ok” by Olivia Rodrigo. An emotional song that Vera was happy with and glad to share. “I dedicated this song to my friend because they’ve been going through a hard time and I wanted to let them know that I care for them and that I’m always there for them,” Vera said.

  • Junior Annalise Yenney sings “Rainbow” by Kacey Musgraves.

  • For the final performances of the night, the BHS choir came out to perform five songs together. Starting with “Skyfall” by Adele from the 2012 James Bond album and “Willow, Willow” by Eugene Butler. This was followed by “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with words by James Weldon Johnson, music by J. Rosamund Johnson and arrangement by Greg Gilpin. This song is often referred to as “The Black National Anthem.”

  • The choir class then sings “Sisi Ni Moja” by Jacob Narverud, a class favorite. The night ends with “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes / Once Upon a Dream Medley” from Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. With this, the choir concert closes with a dazzled audience.

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The Buena High School Choir held their end-of-the-year vocal showcase Friday, June 10, 2022 at 6 p.m. at Buena High School in the Dr. A.W. McConnell Auditorium. The show lasted until 7:30 p.m. and consisted of 16 performances.

The choir class has not had a chance to hold their vocal showcase since 2019 and choir teacher Kevin Downey is more than happy to see his students shine. Compared to August, he notes that the students have come a long way since their first attempted harmonies. “As a teacher, that to me is the biggest thing, to see their growth and learning and it is a journey. We were always trying to get better so giving them an opportunity like this is really important,” Downey said.

While there was concern for choir’s ability to run again next year, Downey, who also teaches English and History, explains that it is likely the class will continue to run after he decided to add an extra class to his teaching schedule. All in all, choir this year ended with renewed hopes and determination. “I would love to see the kids come back and keep making progress. I would like to keep going with our CD project and seeing if we can make more progress in getting more kids in the school involved as well,” Downey said.