Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Program Show Choir Competitions and the Spring Musical Writer // Janelle Morrison • Photography // Submitted
At long last, it’s beginning to feel like things are returning to “normal” or at least Carmel High School Show Choirs have been enjoying traditional seasonal events like show choir competitions and rehearsing for the Carmel High School Spring Musical again without a bunch of restrictions!
I
spoke with Carmel High School Choral Directors Kathrine Kouns and Kyle Barker about this year’s extraordinary show choir season and this spring’s musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”! RISING TO THE CHALLENGE IN TYPICAL CHS SHOW CHOIR FASHION Once again, all of CHS’s show choirs brought home the competition bling! Kouns expressed how proud the choral directors are of the students for their commitment to excellence and respect for one another’s time and efforts. “We’re extremely proud of how hard these students worked,” Kouns ex-
pressed. “There were certainly some very unique and new obstacles that we were up against and recovering from. I think it’s been really hard for any of us to be able to know or anticipate how the students were going to react or bounce back into a more regular routine after the last two years.” Despite the last two more sedentary years, Kouns shared that the students, parents and support team all rose to the occasion, making this year’s competition season extraordinary. “We came out guns blazing,” Kouns exclaimed. “We competed in five extremely competitive and difficult competitions right away. It was sort of like throwing
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everybody back into the deep end and saying, ‘Let’s swim!’ What was really refreshing and exciting was that so many of our colleagues at really great schools with great programs approached their [competition] season the same way that we did. So, when we competed, we were up against some fantastic choirs and ensembles. Our students were able to see fellow high school students from neighboring programs work just as hard and giving their all, which made for a great season because there was this mutual respect for everybody.” SUPPORT EQUALS OPPORTUNITIES After speaking with the choral directors, I felt compelled to remind my fellow supporters of the performing arts that the opportunities that are afforded the CHS choir students are made possible by the generosity of not only CHS families but also the financial gifts provided by local businesses and community members. Kouns explained that national and international affairs, such as workforce shortages, supply chain issues and rising gas prices, have deeply impacted the CHS performing arts department’s budget. In addition to the financial impact the pandemic had on the show choirs’
APRIL 2022
2022-04-26 5:17 PM
