The Starr’s Mill High School Choral Department will present its annual fall concert on Monday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. in Duke Auditorium.
All six of the school’s choral groups—Bel Canto, Camerata, Bella Voce, Chanticleer, An Octave Above (the women’s jazz ensemble) and Men of the Mill (10-member men’s a cappella group)—will present selections they have been rehearsing since school began under the direction of Dr. John Odom, SMHS director of choral activities, and Christy Todd, assistant director of choral activities. The performance is free and open to the public.
In August, nearly 50 students from Chanticleer, the school’s advanced mixed ensemble, experienced a daylong retreat at the Calvin Center in Hampton. The students, who have progressed from the school’s other choirs, took the opportunity to get to know each through games and team activities to help build the kind of supportive environment that is necessary for the success of a performing ensemble.
“The students felt that the retreat helped them get to know other students they might not have had the opportunity to interact with otherwise,” Todd said. “They enjoyed participating in team-building activities lead by the Camp Calvin staff, as well as rehearsing music and performing skits. The highlight of the retreat was ‘Water Wars,’ a water balloon/capture-the-flag challenge between the Junior and Senior classes invented by Chanticleer President Amanda McKenzie.”
Todd said the success of the retreat has prompted the SMHS Choral Department to make this an annual event for Chanticleer.
