At 7 p.m. on Oct. 20, all four of Clover Hill’s choirs performed in the auditorium at the annual fall concert. 

The Cavalier Chorus, Iridescence, Acropolis, and New Dimensions each sang two songs, along with a bonus song that was a collaboration between Acropolis and New Dimensions. The students presented the music they have worked on for the first two months of the school year to a live audience for the first time. 

This year’s fall concert also marks the first performance for new choral director Nicole Whitby, who took over the department in her first year at Clover Hill.

“This fall concert will always hold a special place in my heart,” Whitby said. “[The] students have been extremely welcoming throughout this transition, and I could not have asked for a better group of students to work with for my first year on the hill.”

The Cavalier Chorus, which is the choir for newer chorus students, opened the show by singing “Non Nobis Domine,” arranged by Russel Robinson, and “Danny Boy,” arranged by Douglas E. Wagner. 

Clover Hill’s all-girl show choir Iridescence performed second, singing “Ask Me No More” by Ruth Morris Gray and “Sing, Sing for Me a Song,” arranged by Norman Grayson.

The advanced choir, Acropolis, took the stage next and presented “Gently Falls the Evening Shade” by Luca Marenzio and “The Leaf” by Daniel Pinkham. 

New Dimensions, the mixed gender show choir, went last and performed “Set Me As a Seal” by Rene Clausen and “This Still Room” by David N. Davenport.

Sophomore Maddie Shumate, a member of Iridescence, feels that the concert went really well, especially for the first performance of the year.

“It was our first time performing together and it was one of my favorite things I’ve done this year,” Shumate said.

Junior Garret Wilcox agrees that the performance was a success, and it felt natural for him to sing on stage even though it is his first year in New Dimensions.

“I felt pretty comfortable on stage for the most part,” Wilcox said. “It was like I’ve been doing this all my life.”

Shumate attributes the comfort the singers felt to their preparation before the concert. 

“Because we rehearsed so much, I didn’t feel nervous when I got up on stage,” Shumate said. 

She feels that the songs were both challenging and fun to learn; to master them, the group practiced constantly in the weeks leading up to the performance, singing the songs over and over again.

“I’m so proud of all of Iridescence and the rest of the choirs for all of the hard work they put into the concert,” Shumate said. 

Now that the fall concert is done, the choirs are turning their attention towards the winter concert in December. All four choirs will learn new music, and the show choirs, New Dimensions and Iridescence, will add choreography to their performance for the competitions that begin in January. Shumate eagerly awaits the next show, and she is excited for the choirs to have the opportunity to learn and present even more music. 

“I can’t wait to keep performing and learning with Iridescence and the rest of the choirs,” Shumate said.