On Tuesday, March 4, Rock Ridge Sings, with a feature from the Stone Hill Eighth Grade Choir, performed their annual pre-assessment chorus concert in the auditorium. There were four groups present: Cantus Avem, Phoenix Chorale,  Chamber Choir from Rock Ridge, and Stone Hill’s Eighth Grade Chorus. A total of 10 songs were performed, each introduced by senior Annabelle Monte and junior Laura Adams.  

The concert began with Rock Ridge’s Cantus Avem, who performed “Hope” by Bruce Tippette and “Nothin’ Gonna Stumble My Feet” by Greg Gilpin.

Then, after a stage change and rearrangement, Stone Hill’s Eighth Grade Choir, directed by chorus teacher Peter Uhlir, sang “J’entends Le Moulin” by Emily Crocker and “Sisi Ni Moja” by Jacob Narvereud. 

Uhlir wanted to make sure that his eighth graders were ready to perform on the Phoenix stage. “[To get them prepared we do] reading, training, I try to give them stuff that’s a little bit above their current ability to try and help them grow and expand as young musicians,” Stone Hill Chorus teacher Ulrich said. “I also advocate for Rock Ridge choir because [they’re] the best of the best.” 

The young choir’s training and practice paid off during their performance, which according to Ulrich, went very well. “I thought everything went really, really well. They were watching me well. We could do our dynamics a little bit bigger, that would be the one thing that  I would like us to work on a little bit,” Ulrich said.

Shortly after, the Phoenix Chorale performed “Cantate Domino” by Mark Hayes and “Erev Shel Shoshanim” by Jack Klewbow. 

In celebration of women empowerment, the Chamber Choir performed  “Itken Pois” by Anna-Mari Kähärä, “From Dusk To Dawn” by Gwenyth Walker, and “We Sing As One” by B.E. Boykin, a renowned musician from Alexandria 

This performance differed from the rest, as it wasn’t just voices harmonizing in the auditorium, but synchronized stomping and clapping, adding extra emphasis to the performance.

To pick a representative theme, director Jordan Markwood had his students come up with an idea. “Mr. Markwood asked us to be in big groups and [talk] about what we’re marching for,” sophomore Cheluvi Potineni said. “For me, it was important because I’m conscious about the things around the world [because] they impact me a lot too, especially women’s rights and women’s bodily autonomy. That’s a really big issue right now, and it felt really fitting [to sing about].”

Immediately following their performance, the Chamber Choir provided a demonstration on how they compete and perform during the actual assessment, including a speedy two-minute sight reading of unfamiliar music of the most difficult level designed to showcase their abilities. 

Gallery • 6 Photos

Nidhi Manchala

The Alto One voice group of the Rock Ridge Chamber Choir practices singing in tune during a mock sight reading, working out any concerns they may have before their assessment.