By Adriana Moreno, staff writer
In the past 15 years John Choi, Indian Trail’s choir teacher, has experienced amazing trips with his students. They have had the chance to go to San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Washington D.C, Philadelphia, Florida, Denver, Italy, and the list goes on. This year the group, which may be as large as about 90 students, is going to Austria.
“We are going to Austria in Germany because it’s like the epicenter of music in the recent history. It gives you an opportunity to sing the music that was written in the incredible places we are going to sing in,” said Choi.
Students from choir love the experience that comes along with the trips. In this trip they will have the opportunity to learn about the country and its musical history, as well as learn new things about people themselves. Two students participating in the trip, IT seniors Cat Peterson and MacKenna Ruchti, are very excited about the experience.
“I’m looking forward to singing in the amazing churches and being able to see the beautiful scenery that is going to be in Austria, I am very excited for it,” said Ruchti.
Another member of the choir group emphasizes how the trips have brought great experiences to her life in the past and how she cannot wait to see what this trip has in store for her.
“My sophomore year we took a miniature trip to Milwaukee because we were selected to sing for the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association and that was a great experience,” said Peterson. “Austria and Germany has to be a lot different to the places we have been to, especially with all the mountains and culture. We are going to be visiting a lot of the Holocaust [sites] and concentration camps and I think that’s going to be a very emotional experience but I’m very excited for it.”
Choir is an advanced mixed group of the choral music program. Students have to be ready to receive in-depth instruction in the development of their talent. They go through vocal training, ear training, the presentation of information regarding the historical periods of music compositions and composers, and the preparation and performance of the most challenging and highest quality choral music.
Although this trip is a bit expensive, the group starts raising money a year in advance. This year the trip is about $3,650, which includes airfare, hotels, and meals. Students will be staying there for approximately 12 days. The group does fundraisers that not only benefit the trip but choir in general.
Although the group spends every day at school practicing their vocals together and growing as a group, they all really believe that this trip will benefit them as people as well.
“I think I am going to make more unforgettable memories with my friends. Just being able to sing beautiful music in beautiful places, historic places in Europe,” Peterson said.
Ruchti also expresses how she hopes to benefit from this trip.
“When we went to Italy it really made me appreciate different types of music more and so I’m looking forward to learning the style of music and songs and where it is originated from on this trip,” Ruchti said.
Choi dedicates a lot of his time to this group and wants his students to grow from all the experiences that they live.
“Traveling with my students is worthwhile, it makes the program better. Would I like to just travel with my family sometimes? Yeah, but I think that traveling with the group is so important. We are a better tight group as it is and keeps getting closer and closer throughout the year and they sing together sounding great as the year ends,” Choi said.