Montrose High School has just had their first concert of the year on Monday, October 4. This concert included all choir groups Men’s Choir, Women’s Choir, High Frequency, Vocal Effect, and Chamber Choir. This was the first time performing at the Montrose Pavilion since last year where they performed at Grace Community Church.

        There were five vocal solos in the concert from Ashley Whitcomb, Violet Noel, Xander Cervantes, Noel Huchel Sullender, Chloe Brokering. Danielle Thole also had a solo playing the flute.

 “The concert went well, especially considering the fact that we haven’t had an all-choir performance since December 2019,” said Choir teacher, Monica Phillips.

        There are five choirs at Montrose High School, there are Women’s Choir, Men’s Choir, High Frequency, Chamber Choir, and Vocal Effect. 

“I love being in choir at MHS. Choir has been a great way to find a community of people who share the same passion as me,” said Junior Olivia Guseman. Olivia is a part of High Frequency (the audition women’s jazz group) and Vocal Effect the audition acapella choir.   

     This year the choirs are not required to wear masks and they are not split in half with cohorts. This is a relief because it makes it much easier for not only Mrs. Phillips but the choir students to return to a normal routine. 

“Choir is like a family. We all work together to help each other and get along very well,” said Chamber Choir member Jasmine Gutierrez. 

     Due to COVID, choir has not been able to attend their annual competitions, the hope is that they will be able to attend these competitions this year. The only choir classes that are eligible for competitions are the advanced audition choirs (Chamber Choir, High Frequency, and Vocal Effect). 

“We are currently considering some competitions in April, but they are all dependent on how COVID restrictions are and whether those competitions will actually take place,” Phillips said.

      Music plays a big part in a lot of people’s lives so it’s great to have choir return to normal after the obstacles of last year. The main goals for this year in choir is to improve from last year.

“My word for this year is ‘precision’. Because we spent the last year and a half singing as individuals, we’ve become rusty in our skills of singing together with precision,” said Phillips.