The Farmington High School Choir hosted the districtwide choral concert on Wednesday, Mar. 18th, the first time the concert has been held since 2019. The festival features performances by 4th to 12th grade school choirs from across the district who perform for and with each other. Farmington’s first ever districtwide concert was held in 1989. Each year, a different musical strand plays host to the concert.
This districtwide performance is special because it displays the strong commitment the music teachers have across all grade levels.
“It is special to have all of the district music teachers collaborate for a concert because you can see the development of our musicians from their beginning days as singers to their senior year. You see how important each developmental stage of singing is, and it is fun for the students to see their former teachers again,” FHS choir director Louise Carrozza said.
This concert is not only special and unique for the teachers but also for the students as well. Since the concert features all of the choir students in the whole district, the event is not only special and unique for the teachers but also for the students as well creating many benefits.
“One unique aspect is that all the students get to be in the audience for each other’s performances. Usually when you have a concert at a building, the largest audience draw is from the families of their own students. So, for the younger singers in our district to watch the high schoolers is really special. Hopefully they’re thinking, ‘Wow, I can sound like that if I keep going?’ and we make a positive impact on them wanting to stay in choir. That’s the goal we have,” Carrozza stated.
In many schools music creates meaningful connections between students not only in their own grade but across all of the grade levels as well which allows the younger students to be inspired by their older peers. These shared musical experiences can leave a lasting impact.
“Our high schoolers LOVE to see the little kids get into it with their songs! In fact, the day after the concert, lots of the FHS choir students were singing the tunes that the elementary schoolers sang. We used some of their songs as warm-ups for a few days afterwards!” Carrozza exclaimed.
This performance positively impacts the music program as a whole. By having these concerts with the whole district more and more people have the chance to see their peers perform and consider for themselves if they may want to and get into music.
“We usually see a direct impact in enrollment numbers after one of our strands participates in a district wide concert. For example, last year Band did the districtwide concert and the incoming 9th grade band numbers at FHS are up higher than they have ever been, according to band director Mr. Ventres, who started here seven years ago. This just speaks to the power of music as shown at the concert – one exciting aspect is the finale, when every single kid in the district sings a song together. It is so fun to hear a song you have been working on for weeks come together with all these other voices you have not practiced with before. After such a powerful and positive choir concert, I am hoping for a similar impact on the choir side with enrollment numbers for next school year!” Carrozza said.
If you are interested in joining music here at FHS, contact Mrs. Carrozza or any of the other music directors for information on how to get involved.
