Kristiana Phillips
From the Penang airport to the Thailand marketplace, all through the October 2018 choir trip, Dalat high schoolers sang their hearts out before, during, and after the choir festival.
Beginning the trip after school on Thursday, October 4th, the high school choir spent all of Friday and most of Saturday preparing and performing seven pieces of music in a mass choir for the Bangkok International Choir Festival. But the singing didn’t stop there.
They sang in the mall. They sang in the vans. They sang outside and inside the 24@Home Hotel where they stayed. On the Sunday they left, the Dalat choir pranced up and down the Thailand market, singing and dancing to a traditional African song. The entire trip was a bonding experience in which fine arts students experienced the unifying power of music. In the words of choir conductor and educator Joyce Goh, “Music brings us all together and fills our hearts with such joy.”
Joining a chorus of nearly four hundred other fine arts students, singers from the Dalat choir were able to connect with people from all different schools and backgrounds. As Ms. Goh explains, “When we all come together from different walks of life and sing together as one chorus, that is awesome.”
The choir students themselves certainly seemed to pick up on the joy of singing together, as they carried their choir songs into every part of Thailand they visited, singing and dancing unashamedly, whether in a crowded street or a Thomas the Tank Engine train.
The choir students themselves certainly seemed to pick up on the joy of singing together, as they carried their choir songs into every part of Thailand they visited, singing and dancing unashamedly, whether in a crowded street or a Thomas the Tank Engine train.
Abby Owen (10), a new member to choir who went on the trip, recalls the most memorable moment for her, “We all piled into this train meant for people way younger than us and sang as we drove around the mall. It was right after the concert...We all enjoyed singing just for the fun of it after all our hard work for the concert.”
As Ms. Goh noted, “The enthusiasm that they showed just for the art itself inspires me and the joy on their faces when they sang on the streets and malls were amazing!”
Reflecting on the trip, Hannah Lawrence (12) also noted the unusual amount of “random singing” that happened outside of the actual choir festival. She then went on to explain, however, that what she most enjoyed about the trip was the opportunity to get to know the girls in other grades better.
Abby, too, stated that the trip was “a really positive experience because I became closer to people inside and outside of our choir. It helped me see how fun it can be to sing with others and how it helps make friendships between people who might never have met otherwise.”
Through talking, shared experiences, and, of course, endless singing, everyone grew tremendously—both in their appreciation of music and their relationships with each other. This trip embodied the value of community, the joy of singing, and the power of music.
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