Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s Choir presented its annual spring concert on the evening of May 27.
This was the last choir concert of the school year.
A total of five choir ensembles got the opportunity to perform at this concert, including the Mixed Choir, the Symphonic Honors Choir, the Select Treble Choir, Lorelei Ensemble and the Glee Ensemble. Families and friends came to watch and cheer for the choir members performing.
The first choir to go was the Glee Ensemble; they performed “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Freddie Mercury and Arr. Mark Brymer. This group practiced this piece for a few days after school every week; it consists of just twenty members performing.
The next choir that performed was the Select Treble Choir. They performed “Gerakina” by Arr. Henry Leck, “Explore, Dream, Discover” by Nick Page and “Read ‘Em, John” by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory. This curricular ensemble is a selective honors choir program offered to high school sophomores to seniors who have soprano or alto voices. There are thirty members in this choir led by the choir director, Lisa Rotondi, and senior Prisha Gudimella.
In the middle of the performances was the Mixed Choir, a curricular ensemble consisting of high school freshman choir singers. They performed “Walk in Jerusalem” by Rollo Dilworth, “Who Has Seen the Wind” by Christina Rossetti and Bruce Tippette and “Your Soul is Song” by Jake Runestad.
Afterwards, the Lorelei Ensemble performed “Widmung” by Robert Schumann, “Er Ist Gekommen” by Clara Schumann and Arr. Brandon Williams, and “Canons Op. 113” by Johannes Brahms. This group practiced this piece for a few days after school every week; it consists of thirty members performing.
The last choir ensemble to perform was the Symphonic Choir; they sang “Ngothando” by Mbuso Ndlovo, “By Night” by Elaine Hagenberg and “Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord” by Undine Smith Moore. This curricular ensemble is a selective honors choir program offered to high school sophomores to seniors. This choir ensemble had been preparing for months with the pieces; they had previously performed the three songs at Montclair State University and the NJ ACDA competition held at Rutgers earlier in the spring.
Finally, at the end of the concert, all five choir ensembles gathered at the auditorium to sing “Blessing” by Katie Moran Bart. This song is played at every choir concert and Fine Arts Festival every year, and it was an emotional way to finish off the concert, as seniors knew this was a signal that their time in high school choir was coming to an end.
“I was thrilled to have all of the choirs to wrap the year up with amazing performances. I am so proud of each and every one of them! The seniors really enjoyed their last high school choir concert ever, and I truly hope for the best for them as they enter a new chapter in their lives,” said Ms. Rotondi.
This was Ms. Rotondi’s first year as the high school choir director, and she is looking forward to another successful year for the school’s choir programs. The concert was a grand finale of pride, unity and emotion for all choir performers. It truly showed the power that music has in uniting singers of all voice parts.
