LP_102016

lockportlegend.com life & arts
the Lockport Legend | October 20, 2016 | 21
LTHS choirs show talents at Fall Concert
Kirsten Onsgard
Assistant Editor
Lockport Township High
School senior Jake Parsons’
dream is to make it to Broadway.
After singing in junior
high, he worked his way
through the high school
groups, and he now sings in
Jazz Choir, A Cappella Choir
and will be the king at the
annual Madrigal Dinner.
But on Thursday, Oct. 13,
he said there was no place he
would have rather been than
performing with more than
200 of his peers in the LTHS
choir program during their
annual Fall Concert. The
first show of the year featured
four curricular groups
and one extracurricular
group, and included works
by everyone from Adele to
Claude Debussy in approximately
five languages.
Teaching and performing
a diverse repertoire is the
goal for LTHS Director of
Choirs Chad Goetz.
“From freshmen to seniors,
we are all working
towards a unified purpose
and a unified understanding
of music,” Goetz said. “If
there is a manner of singing,
we give the students a means
to do that. We want to make
sure students have the opportunity
to experience all
those things.”
Goetz, who has been
teaching at LTHS for 12
years, said it is important
to expose his students to a
variety of styles in his ensembles,
which include the
curricular choirs Freshman
Choir, Concert Choir, Mixed
Choir, Bel Canto Choir and
A Capella Choir.
“Our main goal is to continue
to push the limits of
our students as much as possible,”
Goetz said. “Each
year, we try to challenge
them a little more and expect
a little more.”
Each of those groups,
in addition to the extracurricular
pop group Grace
Notes, performed two to
four pieces at the concert,
from traditional American
songs to 16th century works.
The choir’s next concert,
on Thursday, Dec. 15, will
be holiday themed and the
extracurricular Madrigals
group will perform at its
Madrigal Dinner Dec. 2-4.
The group will also travel to
New York City in March for
performances and to work
with clinicians.
“[We are thinking], ‘How
can we do that style in a
healthful way, and be thinking
deeply about it?’” Goetz
said. “Not just Mozart, but it
could be Madonna.”
Rehearsing this music requires
his students to engage
with the music by understanding
its history, learning
music theory and listening
to other members in the
ensemble. It is about active
participation in the music,
Goetz said.
“A lot of time[s], you just
sing along with the radio
and don’t really think about
it,” Parsons said. “It really
forces you to re-examine
music.”
Parsons’ musical theater
dreams put him in the minority
in LTHS Choirs. Goetz
said only a small handful of
the 40 or so students who
graduate from the program
each year go on to study
music performance or education.
That is the case for fellow
senior Abby Mladic, who
does not plan on pursuing
music professionally but
still performs with Parsons
in the Jazz Choir and A Cappella
Choir. She will also be
Lockport Township High School Director of Choirs Chad Goetz conducts the Concert Choir Thursday, Oct. 13, during the
LTHS Fall Concert. Photos by Kirsten Onsgard/22nd Century Media
queen for the Madrigal Dinner.
Nonetheless, she said music
is a passion, though one
that keeps her after school
until 8 p.m. daily and can
test her endurance. But after
every performance, it is
clear the work was worthwhile,
she said.
“I think I’ve cried every
single time,” she said. “It’s
just the combination of the
amount of work you put
into it and the connections
you make with Mr. Goetz as
well as the ensemble around
you.”
Parsons agreed.
“At the end of the day, it’s
just what we love to do,”
Parsons said. “So being here,
there are times when it is a
lot of work … but at the end
of the day, there’s no place
we would rather be.”
Kristen Donnelly, LTHS assistant director of choirs, conducts Grace Notes, an extracurricular
choir group that performs pop songs.