After a drive south to Corvallis and a day full of music, the Lake Oswego High School a capella choir won second place in the 2024 Oregon State Choir Championship.
The students’ musicianship and cohesion as a group were recognized from among 24 qualifying schools that traveled to Oregon State University for the 6A competition on Saturday, May 4.
“It was a bit terrifying,” said Wyatt Gross, one of the students in the group. “I knew that we knew what we were doing and I guess that helps.”
By the time the team arrived in Corvallis, it had performed the five-song state program previously at Three Rivers and at Spring Sing, not to mention all of the hours of rehearsal.
“State this year was pretty memorable because – well, we got second so that’s impressive, but it was really emotional for me. I feel like this choir, especially within the last two years, we’ve all become really close and have this bond. Knowing that that was my last time singing on that stage was really warm and a lovely feeling, but it was also really sad because we have to move on,” said Kennedy Othus.
The students agreed that the nerves didn’t really kick in until right before performance time. For most of the day, the Lake Oswego students sat in the audience and watched other school’s choirs perform.
“I think the nerves didn’t hit me until we were actually on stage,” said Zia Murphy, who along with Sadie Huffy opened the first song “Moder Jord” as a soloist.
“I was pretty, pretty nervous. I was like, ‘I’m shaking in my boots a bit here.’ Once I got on stage it was kind of ‘whatever happens happens,’” said Huffy. “Getting that first note, everything was going to be OK.”
The five songs the students sang covered three different languages and hundreds of years of musical history. Lake Oswego Director of Choirs Tara Bamford spends a lot of time thinking about the group’s repertoire because they’ll spend so much time during the school year crafting a finished product.
“Thinking of a program that represents diverse composers, spans time periods, tells a story and really shows off what they can do,” said Bamford. “A lot of the feedback that we got thought it was a really interesting program and very engaging.
Bamford added that LOHS earned the highest score out of all the 6A schools on sight-reading, one of the hardest skills to master in music. For the entire a capella choir to sing a song together after seeing it for the first time displays advanced technique and musicianship.
“I think we’re always working really hard on technique, but in the end, there's only a certain level that our talent can reach and what pushes us past that wall is the community. If we didn't all love each other as much as we did, it would be almost like a competition within the group and against other choirs and because there isn't I think we are all constantly supporting each other and we can help each other grow,” said Sadie Ellis.
The seniors in the music department said their final state performance was bittersweet, there are only a few more performances before one last song together at graduation on June 11.
“I feel like it was especially memorable not only because I”m a senior but I just fell it was the one where I was least worried about how we would do because everyone just felt so comfortable with each other and we could focus more on having a good time,” said senior Mieso Kim. “I’m trying to cherish these last moments because I realized it’s not ever going to be the same feeling.”
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