Choir competes at State for first time

A winning performance at the state championships last week wasn’t in the cards for the Sisters High School Choir.

But that didn’t dampen the singers’ spirits as they marked the first time in Sisters High School history the choir was selected to sing in the state competition.

The choir, under the direction of Tara MacSween, was just one of 12 3A choirs in the state to get this privilege and it was a stellar experience.

This year the State Festival was held at the Bauman auditorium at George Fox University in Newberg.

“The hall was spectacular to perform in,” said MacSween. “It was just beautiful. The kids could really hear themselves. They’ve never been in a place like that before.”

Sisters opened their set with “Salmo One Twenty,” a piece by Brazilian composer Aguiar.

“It was really fast and intense,” said MacSween. “This is the piece the kids enjoy performing the most. It’s very fun to open with.”

The choir also performed “Dienachtigall” by MacSween’s favorite composer, Mendelssohn. MacSween told The Nugget she was excited to have a choir that could perform a piece with this level of difficulty.

Sisters’ last song was entitled “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” by William Dawson. The song is a spiritual and full of energy, MacSween said

“At the end of this song we hold the note strong. After we cut off it just rang throughout the auditorium. It seemed to ring forever. It was really fun and a good note for this choir to end on,” she said.

“For the work we put in it was a nice finish.”

The choir previously performed this piece at the Central Oregon Festival, which Sisters hosted just a few weeks ago and afterwards the adjudicator told them to sing the song like they were Baptists.

MacSween said, “That obviously translated well for the kids because since then they sing the song with lots more energy and spirit. I think we had our best performance of this piece at State.”

The Sisters singers were able to catch other top 3A choir performances while waiting for their turn.

“We heard some groups that were just phenomenal,” said MacSween. “It was just great to hear that level of performances.

“And, it was fun to see what we can keep reaching for. Some of the groups just made my jaw drop!”