Superior

Last Friday, the choirs of Freedom High School participated in the district-level music performance assessment that is required of every choral program in our district and, if I am not mistaken, throughout the state.  It is a way of measuring how well your program is doing at this point in the year.  The process consists of each ensemble singing a 15 minute set of music for three adjudicators and then completing a sight singing exercise portion that consists of both rhythmic and harmonic sight singing.  Freedom took three ensembles to this assessment and I am proud to say that all three ensembles received Superior markings from all three adjudicators on their performances as well as Superior markings for their sight singing completion!  Such markings are nearly unheard of in the state of Florida and certainly uncommon in our county.  For a school to be so daring as to bring three ensembles and then complete the assessment with such high marks is astounding, or at least, so said the adjudicators.

While receiving high markings at an important event such as this is great for the program and for the school, there was something about this evening of music making that was more significant to me.  These students, all 154 of them, gave of themselves and gave their hearts to the performance of these pieces.  While the audience consisted of mostly other choral students from the district and their parents, the students at Freedom felt that this music had a story worth conveying to this audience, and they did so in an inspirational manner.

At the end of the Patriot Singer's set, the top ensemble, the audience burst to their feet in a roar of applause because the ensemble had done more than sing a pretty song, they had impacted lives.  Mr. Won, my co-operating teacher, has a phrase he likes to say around the chorus room that I think fits perfectly into this story.  He says, "We do not perform to impress, we sing to inspire."  Such is the culture of the Freedom High School chorus program.  These students do not need the accolades and the praise to know that what they are doing is pretty or good, they get that from their teachers.  But what satisfies them more is knowing that their musical product can and does change lives.

Last Friday night was a life changing experience not just for the kids singing in the ensemble or the audience members in attendance, but for me, a choir nerd from Missouri who never ceases to be amazed by the raw talent and selflessness his students convey each and every day.