Choral students hone their vocal skills as district choral workshops

Two hundred-plus choral students from across the district fine-tuned their vocal skills this week as Walled Lake Northern and Walled Lake Western hosted choral workshops lead by guest clinicians.

On Tuesday, October 17, tenor and bass students from all of the district high and middle schools worked with Oakland University professor Mike Mitchell at Walled Lake Western. Then on Thursday, October 19, Ann Arbor Skyline choir director Lyn CieChanski lead the workshop at Walled Lake Northern for the district’s alto and soprano students.

The two-hour workshops included learning two brand new songs, breakout sessions by voice type, and they concluded with a group performance of songs the students learned at the end.

“It was very, very fun,” said Walled Lake Western senior Joshua Okengwu. “Especially us going to sectionals and working our parts out, and to combine everything we worked for and everything that we have practiced, to a performance that really shined.”

 “Music is such a powerful thing and it becomes even more powerful when you’ve got this huge auditorium full of girls singing with you,” said Walled Lake Northern senior Alessandra Plowman. “I’m so grateful that I get these opportunities… and that we get to come together in one setting as a district.”