Hi-Line Living: Singing on the big stage in Spokane

Editor’s note: The Havre Daily News editor found out after this section was printed that the All North West Honor Choir had been cancelled to reduce the chance of exposure to the novel coronavirus 2019 and the Havre contingent left Thursday to return.

"I'm looking forward to going to Spokane, where I've never been before," Havre High School freshman Allie Messinger said. "I'm also looking forward to hearing our choir come together and sing,"  

Messinger is one of four Havre students who qualified to travel to perform in the Northwest Honor Choir at the Fox Theater in Spokane, Washington, Saturday.

Along with Messinger, Havre High School choir teacher Danna Stoll took Havre High junior Brigham Blackwell, freshman Kate Hemmer and senior Hannah Pratt to Spokane earlier this week to to give them time to practice for Saturday's performance.

  "Students from the Pacific Northwest submit auditions online," Stoll said "If they are selected, they learn their music ahead of time, then put it together with amazing directors over four days. It culminates in a concert for each ensemble."

For the audition, the students  have to record a high and low major scale as well as a chromatic scale, unaccompanied, she said, adding that they also have to sing the melody of a short folk song, like "My Bonnie" to demonstrate they can stay in tune by themselves. 

She said after those two steps, they finish off by having to record themselves singing a harmony part while a computer plays the other parts around them.

Once the students are accepted into the Northwest Honor Choir, she said, they receive music in early February, listen to it on their own and work with her on it and have it learned by mid-March.  

"They provide practice tracks for the kids to listen to, so that's a huge help," she said.

The Northwest Honor Choir consists of students from Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska who qualify for the performance.

Stoll said that, this year, the choir is made up of five sub-choirs, intermediate treble choir for grades five through seven; children's seventh through ninth grade mixed; high school first and second soprano and first and second alto; high school tenor 1 and 2 and baritone and bass 2; and vocal jazz.

This year's directors are choral composer Laura Farnell of Arlington, Texas; Artistic Director Designate of Los Angeles Children's Chorus Fernando Malvar-Ruiz; Riverside City College Choral and Vocal Activities Director John Byun of Riverside, California; Choral Activities Director and Graduate Coordinator Gary Packwood of Mississippi State University and Amanda Taylor, director of the Sorella group Seattle Girls Choir.

"Weep O Mine Eyes" and "He Never Failed Me Yet" are two example songs the students will be singing.

The American Choral Directors Association, which is putting it on this year's event, mission statement is "to inspire excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition, and advocacy. This event focuses on the education and performance components. It is a life-changing experience for many students. Sometimes if they were undecided about a career, participating in All-NW encourages them to pursue it as a career."

Messinger, who qualified for the choir for the first time this year, said she is looking forward to performing Saturday.

"I wanted to be in the choir because it's a cool opportunity to be in a choir in a different place," she said. "I'll get to work with people who love music and work hard on it. "

She said that learning songs in different languages is a challenge, but it's also fun.

She has been singing in school and church choirs ever since elementary school, she said.

"Mrs. Stoll has helped me by sending in my (Northwest Honor choir) audition recording, making sure that we all have the rehearsal tracks, and being there to help if we need it," Messinger said. "My peers help because it's nice to have another person's perspective, sometimes, especially when working on the same piece of music."

She added that she not only plans to audition for the Northwest Honor Choir next year, but also plans to continue singing more into her future.

Blackwell said this year is his first year in the choir, also and he plans on auditioning for it again next year.

"I just really like to sing," he said. "Some of the songs are a bit more complex than what I'm used to, so it's been a challenge to learn them."

He said he has been singing ever since he could talk and has been in a choir since fourth grade, adding that he would like to sing in college, but probably not professionally.

One of the songs he is singing is in Haitian, he said, adding that Stoll has been really helpful with him on that piece, and so have his peers.

"Mrs. Stoll has been really helpful with one of my songs in Haitian," Blackwell said, "Both Hannah and I would ridicule each other if we didn't have our songs learned, so that helps."

He added that a Chick-fil-A is in Spokane and he's really excited to eat there.

Last year, Stoll said, she took one student to the honor choir, none in 2018 and two in 2017.

"I like (the Northwest Honor Choir) because for those students who are really exceptional, it gives them a chance to work with a group of students who are all exceptional. So, number one, it can be really freeing for them to be the one who doesn't have to carry their section all the time," she said. "They can just sing with their full voice and be really confident because everyone there knows their part, but also it can be a humbling experience for them because sometimes they may feel like a big fish in a small pond."

It's good for the students to know that there are other really good singers out there and they get to be part of something like this, she said.

Stoll said to have four students going this year feels really cool.

"I think it's fun for them to just be in a bigger city and be somewhere different, meet new people, see new faces, just have new experiences and I think another big thing is that they get to make really good, really challenging music with other really talented singers and with the directors that are world-class directors and musicians," she said. "... They get an extra challenge, which these students need and benefit from."

She added that the Northwest Honor Choir doesn't always perform in Spokane. Last year they traveled to Portland, Oregon, in 2018 the concert was in Seattle and in 2017 the performance was in Bellevue, Washington.

Pratt said she is looking forward to singing with so many other people in Spokane.

"I wanted to know what it was like being part of something this huge, like if I want to do a career in music if it went in this direction like how would it sound, how would it feel to be in a choir in college or something," she said. "I know this isn't college level, but it's closer than high school."

With this process, Pratt said, Stoll has helped her a lot from giving her tips on how to make her singing level much better and how to learn her music on her own.

"If you are thinking about (auditioning) just do it," Pratt said. "Even if the thought crosses your mind, go audition, but if you're thinking 'Eh, not for me,' still audition."

She added that, personally, she has learned she can take on things that are bigger than herself and has learned a lot of responsibility.

"As a singer, it just has helped me kind of unlock some things in my voice that I didn't know I had before," she said. "It has helped me project and actually sing a high note I never thought I could reach before." 

She has been singing for most of her life, she said.

Hemmer, who also has been singing most of her life, said she auditioned for the choir first to see if she could get in.

"To see if I could be a part of it, and I also really like being part of different stuff. I like being busy with stuff and trying everything," she said. 

Stoll was very patient with her when she was auditioning to help her submit the best piece, Hemmer said.

"I have learned how much work it takes to be able to do something you love, like singing," she said. "As a singer, I never thought I was good at, but I guess I'm learning I'm a little better than I thought."