Welcome to the 2020-21 School Year!

Hello, Kimberly Choir Community!

We are Grant Colling and Callie Grones, both seniors in Concert Choir, and we are your 2020-21 Choir Council Co-Presidents. For the first time in KHS Choir history, two people have been chosen to serve the choir council in the presidential role, and we couldn’t be happier to be serving and leading this program together.

It makes sense that this is a year to make history, because 2020 has been anything but normal. This has been a wild ride for all of us: what we’ve experienced, seen, heard, felt, and what we’ve constantly had to adapt to. We all have our own stories to tell about how this year has been so far, and that’s why we think this is such a pivotal moment in time. 

As the 2020-21 school year approached, we all came into school having different experiences from COVID 19. We had events and vacations cancelled, limited contact with people we love, and even some of our family members having contracted the virus themselves. Early on in the year, with all of the craziness and unknowns we faced, we as a choir community discussed what makes this year different from other years. We talked about how it’s difficult to wear masks all day, especially when trying to sing and create beautiful music together. We talked about physical distancing, how we can’t socialize like we used to or just be together in the same ways. We, not only as a choir community, but as a society, have needed to learn new ways to adapt to change. It’s been challenging.

But even more importantly, we talked about what has stayed the same. We gather together because of our passion for music. We gather together because of our desire for excellence and strength that is the Kimberly Choir program. But we think most importantly, we gather for each other, to be with each other and to feel the connection that is formed when we take that first breath and begin to sing. We gather because though we are all different people, we are connected by what we love. 

In times like these we need to remember how and why we rise out of a place of darkness like this. Concert Choir will sing a song called “A World Gone Quiet,” a new choral composition written specifically for the victims of COVID-19, and we would like to call your attention to one of the phrases in the music:

“Like the Sun which never dies, we will rise.”

This short, simple phrase says it all. As a choir community, group of people, friends, family, and ultimately the whole world, we are the Sun. We, as a collective whole, possess what we need to get ourselves out of this situation together. Showing love and care for one another can give us the strength to be able to rise up. We lift up someone, they lift up someone else, then that person lifts up someone else, and it continues on and on. We as a society will be able to heal the hurt that has been felt by all of us. We will make it through together. We will rise together -- and we will become stronger together.

We are in the process of putting together a virtual performance during these fall months. Please stay tuned for more details! We thank you for your support of the Kimberly Choirs!