Superior Singers: Mel High’s Concert Choir traveled to Lakeland to Perform at State MPA, and Received Superior Ratings by Audrey Baudek
On Monday, April 28th, the Concert Choir of Melbourne High School journeyed to Lakeland, to perform at State MPA in The First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland. After receiving straight superior ratings at District MPA, the choir felt they needed to take it a step forward and keep showing off all of their hard work. “Our choir hasn’t attended State MPA since my sophomore year,” said senior Maddie Kelly. “It’s a lot of pressure, and the judges aren’t always very fair, but we really connected to the pieces we chose this year. I remember after District MPA, Mrs. Taylor told our concert and chamber classes that she didn’t want that to be our last time performing the set, and wanted to take us to State.” The set consisted of three songs of varying genre, and the message of the pieces really resonated with the students. “When I sing our songs and the message behind them, I think about who I’m singing with,” said junior Elle Curtis. “I care deeply for the people in my choir, so when I think about them it helps me feel connected to the music.”
“I feel like our performance was ethereal,” said junior Tyler Haman. “We were all so connected and in sync with each other that making music together felt like second nature.” This connection, Haman said, wasn’t random. It was a combination of the relationship the students had with one another, and the hard work they all put in to making the songs sparkle. “One of the biggest things our director drilled into us during the rehearsal process was that we need to keep it consistent. If we do something at the beginning of the song, we need to keep doing it throughout the entire piece,” said Haman. Consistency wasn’t the only thing that the students focused on, however. Throughout their rehearsals, they worked on perfecting many aspects of their performance. “Our teacher brought in clinicians from other schools to listen to us and give us professional feedback, which pushed our music to the next level,” said junior Logan Riley.
The students were proud to have received their well deserved straight superiors at State MPA, however, it was more important to them that they be proud of their performance. “The performance went really well because all of us were so into it,” said junior Alex Cedar. “My favorite part of the whole experience was actually before we performed. We went to warm up and stood in a circle around a fountain and ran through our pieces one final time. Everything else just fell away, and that’s how it felt when we performed it for the judges as well.” Cedar was one of many who felt that way. “When we got up there and performed with one another, it was just so emotional,” said senior Audrey Baudek. “Mrs. Taylor had told us previously that she wanted us to get superiors, but she didn’t care as long as we were together, in the moment, and gave it our all. When we sang together that last time, we weren’t performing for the judges or for the audience. We were performing for ourselves and all that we mean to one another.”