Choir: More Than Vocals

Lompoc High School Choir is one of the many clubs here at LHS. Currently, there are 20 students in the choir class, as well as others who participate as club members, not in the class. Choir students in the class are required to sing at each of their three concerts. These students are strongly urged to practice for the choir concerts every day during class time, and most often they do actually sing everyday. Students are encouraged to sing on their own as well, because if they don’t practice outside class it will be harder for them to make progress. But the only work outside of class is to remember and memorize song lyrics. People are expected to come to class prepared to sing.  That means having their music ready and being physically ready to sing, so they are capable physically, and mentally.

 They rehearse during 5th period class and during choir club at lunch. In addition to those rehearsal times, students who are working on solos also rehearse on their own or with their friends. Mrs. Barthel evaluates student progress more in group form than individually. Especially with masks on, it is hard to tell what sound is coming from each student so she tends to give group feedback. Choir is a performance-oriented class.  They use a computer and a Smart TV at times to review music on the big screen, teaching students how to follow a road map through a song. They also use iPads and Bluetooth speakers regularly to help with playing accompaniment tracks and/or making recordings of our class rehearsals so students have access to them through Google Classroom after hours. Usually they perform three concerts per year: December, February, and late May or early June. They typically also sing at 8th Grade Parent Night (but that will be on Zoom again this year) and at graduation.

 They are currently preparing for their concert on June 1st as well as graduation. Their concert will be about one hour long. Meanwhile, they will be singing three songs at graduation:  the National Anthem, the Alma Mater, and one more song that they haven’t decided for sure. As a class they are progressing very well with memorizing over 20 songs so far this year. In addition to those, most students have also learned a solo or small group song to add to the concerts in December and February. 

For those outside the class, anyone can join the choir club at any time during the school year. To join choir class you need to talk to your counselor to get registered for the following school year.

 Students are expected to sit with good posture or stand as appropriate to the rehearsal.  Students know that they sing in different venues including the music building, the Little Theater, the cafeteria, and even outside. For concerts there is a dress code they are encouraged to follow/wardrobe guideline set and students are expected to dress accordingly. We’re so happy that the choir club can rehearse in person all together again, and now (with the mask mandate lifted) will get to perform like they once did.