Autumn is falling into place, and what better way to embrace the warm, cozy season than the traditional Reeths-Puffer Choir fall concert? On October 18th, the Reeths-Puffer High School Choir will perform their hard-worked music pieces to families and friends. Under Joshua Danielson's and Lisa Ziemelis's direction, 4 individual choirs are ready to take their talent to the stage. From sight reading music to understanding rhythms and notes, Joshua Danielson notes that the choirs “get better each year” and that “last year we were good but this year we’re better, and next year we will be even better.”
After picking up a strong legacy left behind by former choir director, Regina Schlaff, rebuilding the Rocket City choir was a lot of pressure. On top of that, losing a group of talented seniors last year left the choir with many holes to fill. Danielson is quite proud of the group and has much more to look forward to in the following months, such as caroling, the traditional Candlelight concert, Collage, and POPS! He said that the connection with one another and the culture is strong.
“The choir has done well with working on literacy and reading music. Last year we were big on learning solfege (A system where every note has its unique syllable, which is then made into a pitch to create music) and counting. And now it's starting to pay off,” Danielson expressed. He explained the challenge has been
conceptualizing the idea of learning new skills. “More importantly, how do we take what we have learned, and turn the music into something more artistic.” Being able to match the understanding of music like these students have is quite the talent and it isn't easy. Senior Charles Jones explains what has gone well so far in preparing for the concert, “Just growing a love for the music and connecting with the pieces we are singing.” The effort, time, and patience these students must have to develop the concept of music, notes, and rhythms is an extraordinary skill.
The choir is adding a few slight adjustments to the show this year, such as collaborating with Whitehall’s choir program. When asked why, Danielson explained that Whitehall is going through a similar situation regarding a new director. Danielson understood and offered to partner with Whitehall this fall. The Reeths-Puffer Choir is excited to open its doors to the Whitehall community for an enjoyable night of laughs and sweet harmonies.
However, there is much more work for the choir to do to develop and polish their pieces. Learning music is teachable to anyone but being able to use this and apply it to a sheet of music takes hard work and time. To memorize the melody, rhythms, and pitches in a short period is an astonishing effort put together by the group. The final step in these last few weeks has been polishing and perfecting. The choir is more than a program; it’s a family and they will be ready for the Rocket City community.
Written By: Morgan Rekeny and Addison Jourden