There are a variety of talented groups of people that walk on campus, the range goes throughout various forms of the arts. One group in particular is choir. There are different groups within choir, from concert to advanced women’s to jazz, but every member shares the same passion for singing. 

Yet, in these odd times, how do choir members maintain their voice?

Junior Ella Barnum, a current member of jazz choir, after doing two years of advanced women’s and one year of concert choir, is a soprano 1, which requires a voice that can reach higher octaves. 

“Keeping my voice trained during quarantine is really difficult because I don’t want to disturb my family members and as a soprano 1, when I am working on my range the notes I sing as usually high and very loud,” Barnum stated. “Because of this I am limited on what I can do but try to sing a little bit every day in order to maintain my range and vocal strength, usually with certain warmup videos and singing songs that use my full range or allow me to work on the upper and lower ends.” 

One popular musical in particular Barnum works with to train her voice for higher notes is Phantom of the Opera, originally created in 1986, where the main character Christine, hits a large array of high notes within multiple songs.

Though, while singing is the main part of choir, there are a variety of other factors that come into play, like being able to read music.

“Online classes for choir involve two types of assignments, one related to music theory and reading sheet music where we usually identify note intervals or similar tasks, and one in which we listen to and discuss different pieces of choral music,” Barnum said. 

To be able to identify points within the music where you have to shift your voice a certain way or transition, reading music is an essential part, though the online classes have not been able to give them assignments that correlate with physical singing, the students are able to train their mental capabilities.

The vice president of jazz choir, junior Makenna Webb, works a lot with music in her free time, she does not have a specific routine when it comes to singing, but is constantly practicing,

“I sing pretty often so my voice gets used regardless of if I’m specifically practicing or not! I also write music and take piano lessons so I stay pretty musically active,” Webb stated.

Practicing at home is a completely different scenario compared to practicing in a classroom filled with other students. With quarantine, missing an entire quarter of choir, and missing a trip to California, there is a nostalgia that comes with the memories that have been created and a sadness of the ones that have been missed. 

Junior Janet Thampy, currently an alto 2 member of the concert choir, has made a lot of good memories in her time of being a part of choir.

“I really miss being able to sing with my friends. My favorite memory is when we sweeped the competition at the Disneyland last year,” Thampy stated. “I was in Advanced Women’s at the time, and it was just crazy and felt so incredible to be a part of a talented and crazy dedicated group that just dominated in a competition. All of us were so excited and it was such a thrill looking back on it.”

The quarantine has put a pause in a lot of the arts, but even in unknown times, choir students continue to work to be prepared for the next school year.