Choir has long been an uplifting and talented group of individuals driven by their love for music, with this year being no exception. Through the competitions participated in and events hosted, choir members have been able to prove their excellence yet again. 

At OHS, many students find a sense of community in choir but are originally interested in joining because of pivotal memories from the past. 

“I’ve always been in choir, since elementary school. It’s always been a really big family because you always meet the best people in choir and it’s a really fun class to get to know people,” said Zachary Colin, junior. 

Others decide to get into music after gaining inspiration from their family members who openly had a passion for singing. 

“My Aunt Karen. She sang in our church choir all the time so she really got me into singing, and so I sang because I looked up to her,” Hailee Wing, sophomore. 

Choir has given these students so many chances to develop as people and feel a sense of enjoyment during the stressful periods of a school day. 

“[Choir] has just been my happy place. I take a lot of harder classes and so that one period is my free time that I get to enjoy and it’s really my passion,” said Kali Buhl, junior. 

Through advanced choir, members are also able to attend events that allow them to showcase the skills they have been working on during the year. 

“Every year there’s this regional thing that we do where we get to perform with all of the best choirs in the region. It’s really cool and it’s really fun and I’ve gotten to do that for the past three years,” said Corinne Kisicki, senior. 

Also, advanced choir has recently showed off their immense amount of talent in California, where they competed in a festival.

“We also went to the Anaheim festival, where our choir actually got gold. Which is the highest ranking your choir can get. So we’re in the top 10% of all choirs,” Wing said. 

The show choir at OHS has also been able to spread their positive light around the community. 

“We have outside of school extracurricular activities where we go and perform, for  baseball games. We do stuff within our community. We’ve had a couple things where we go to retirement homes and sing for the elderly,” Buhl said. 

Another major benefit of choir is the connection that people make with each other. By gaining the opportunity to interact with like-minded individuals, students are able to recognize the positive influence choir has. 

“Choir really helps you meet some amazing people. You get a lot of opportunities to meet a bunch of other choirs from the district, and anyone that’s involved in music are always kind-hearted and amazing people to be around,” Colin said. 

While being a part of choir in high school is an exciting experience, some hope to continue pursuing music in the future. 

“I’m actually going to go into music education. I’m going to go to ASU and do [music education] and then after my first four years, I’m going to go out of state and try to get my doctorate in teaching,” Kisicki said. 

Choir has had such a positive impact on the lives of its members. It creates life-long relationships and allows for students to hone their singing skills, but overall, it creates an indescribable love for music.

“Music has had the biggest impact in my life ever. I listen to music or I sing while I’m drawing, doing my homework, even when I get ready in the morning. Music surrounds my life,” Wing said.