2016 Fall Choir Concert

Autumn Gomez-Tagle '17 | Choir Council President

Hello parents, students, alumni, and community members! Welcome to a new school year!  My name is Autumn Gomez-Tagle and I am the 2016-17 KHS Choir Council President.   As you may know, our Fall Choir Concert is coming up very quickly!  I would like to invite you to join us on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 7:00 pm in the KHS Auditorium for our first concert of the year, Freedom Come!

In this time of politics, divisiveness, and 24-hour news cycles, it can be hard to find reasons to come together. With new headlines about the 2016 election popping up every week, it’s easy to lose sight of what's important. However, one of the most important reasons to come together is to share music with one another.  The music in this concert helps to remind us what is truly important -- working for freedom, embracing our challenges, and celebrating our triumphs.  

Mr. Popke said something in a recent rehearsal that resonated with me. He told us that this concert is about “who we are, where we have come from, and why we do what we do”. His words were a much-needed reminder of responsibility and pride.  The notion of “why we do what we do” isn’t exclusive to politicians and heroes; it also applies to each one of us as citizens.  The music in this concert personifies this idea. 

Throughout this concert cycle, all of us have really delved into the texts of the music we are singing.  I'm really proud of that.  In a recent rehearsal Mr. Popke had all of us in Concert Choir step back from the technical aspects of the music and really focus on the emotions of the text. He turned the lights off and asked us to sing  “Armistice 1918: Everyone Sang” to someone we know. In the darkness, we sang about the sudden joy and relief that comes at the end of a long battle, the reprieve from suffering, and how those ideas translate into our own lives.  By taking a step back, we were able to put the lyrics in context and understand the feelings of a war that happened nearly one hundred years ago. We remembered that the American story doesn’t end on any one page of our textbooks; the next chapter is always being written -- by us.

On Tuesday night, we invite you take a break from politics and join us for our Fall Choir Concert.  Not only will we sing about freedom, justice, and peace, but we will also honor those people who have helped to secure our own freedom and freedom for others around the world.  We hope that you will come and celebrate freedom with us!