On Wednesday, Mar. 18, the Green Hope Choir went to Meredith College to perform and be judged at the Music Performance Adjudication (MPA). The groups that performed from Green Hope High School were the Beginning Treble Choir, Tenor and Bass Ensemble, Advanced Treble Choir and Voices of Hope (VOH). The choir students began to prepare their pieces for MPA in late January. In addition to practicing these songs in class, choir students got help on their pieces during lunch and practiced at home so they could come to rehearsal feeling prepared and confident to sing.
MPA is Green Hope Choir’s opportunity to go and be judged, graded and given feedback on their performance. The choirs are judged by retired chorus teachers and they judge them on their songs they have been preparing and on their ability to sight read. Sight reading is the ability to read sheet music and perform the music on solfege with the correct rhythms.
Mr. Allen Botwick, Green Hope’s choral director, helped prepare the students, which ultimately led them to success. “MPA went extraordinarily for Green Hope. All ensembles scored Superior in both performance and sight reading. I think this year we chose music that really challenged all of our ensembles and that led to some moments of frustration in daily rehearsals when we’re being really hard on ourselves, but I think it brought us together to have that shared goal and I am truly proud of each of our songs.” Botwick said.
Additionally, Marilyn Bush (‘28), a Green Hope Choir student from Beginning Treble Choir, shared how she thought MPA went for her school and ensemble. “Our ensemble was really prepared and it all came together in the end to create a well-performed performance,” Bush said, showing admiration towards her chorus class. “I enjoyed going out to perform and bonding with other choir members throughout songs and being able to enjoy the variety of songs that choirs from outside of Green Hope sang.” Bush explained how MPA isn’t just about singing, it’s about building new connections and friendships with choir members and getting key takeaways from watching other schools’ performances.
Each ensemble sang two songs and those who were also in VOH sang four in total. These songs contained challenges, including learning new languages and having multiple voice parts, but Green Hope Choir persevered through. Some songs that were favorites of the choir and Botwick were ‘Ave Maria’ which Botwick has always wanted to do but wanted to have the right ensemble to perform it, ‘Dum Spiro Spero’ which has cool energy, ‘Makedonska Humoreska’ which was a song in a different language and four parts and ‘The Road Home’ which reminds us to lean on our family and home when we need it. The Green Hope High School Choir has been invited to MPA every year since 2001. Every year since Green Hope has been invited they prepare and practice so they can do even better the next year. The feedback from the judges also helps to improve all of the ensembles’ performances and gives them tips on what the choir should focus on more helping them prepare for their Spring Concert in May.
