The ECHO, May 2023

By Avery Tortora
Staff Writer
East’s advanced art students
presented their work at a gallery
in the Wildcat atrium April 9.
Snacks were served.
ARTS & CULTURE
Gallery: Art students present their work April 9
By Maryam Samei
By Noah Andrews
By Caroline Eckblad
By Ayden Farmer
By Annie Wu
By Selema DeBellis
By Eric Wan
By Camden Lauver
By Tess Jarskog
Avery Tortora/The ECHO
East Ensemble takes home festival win
Ananya Cox & Avery Tortora
Staff Writers
“I just remember the energy
in the room when we won the
Best Ensemble award. It was
electric. Everyone’s faces lit
up and it was loud and it was
awesome,” said senior and
East Ensemble member Isaac
Robinson.
Over spring break, East’s
audition-based chorus class,
East Ensemble, traveled to New
Orleans to participate in the
WorldStrides Heritage Festival,
where they competed against a
number of other high schools.
“It’s called an adjudication,
which is when choirs come
together in a certain place and
all perform,” said senior and
East Ensemble member Mitra
Samei. “There are three judges
who score you, and then one of
the judges comes up on stage
and gives notes… then there is
an awards ceremony.”
Although East Ensemble was
the smallest group at the event,
they nonetheless were able
to achieve the highest overall
rating of “Gold,” as well as
the Adjudicators’ Award and
the Best Choir Award for their
performance at the competition.
“There’s something really
magical about singing in a
group; it’s unlike anything
else,” Samei said. “You’re in the
middle of this range of voices,
[from] really high sopranos to
really low basses, all around
you, harmonizing, and it’s like
you can feel the vibrations in
the air harmonizing with each
other; it’s the coolest feeling
ever.”
Outside of the main purpose
for the visit of singing, the group
participated in many other New
Orleans activities during their
time there. East Ensemble got
to experience a private jazz
concert at Preservation Hall,
walk around the French Quarter,
attend a masquerade ball where
awards were announced and go
on a steamboat tour, soaking in
all of the opportunities that the
city had to offer.
“It was so much fun. I
improved a ton musically as a
singer, and it was an amazing
experience to get to go to New
Orleans with all my friends. It
was the highlight of my spring
break,” Robinson said.
The joy of the experience
and competition was only
heightened by the bond of
the East Ensemble members,
something senior and group
member Chess Whitsell
described.
“It was so fun. I think also
[that in] East Ensemble as a
class… you build such strong
connections [and] everyone
in that class is best friends,”
Whitsell said. “We all love
each other, that’s why it was a
lot of fun. It was just a bunch
of friends getting to hang out,
and do what we love, which is
singing.”
Courtesy of Desiree Davis-Omburo