Donation, fundraising aids choir program

Students in the Sisters High School jazz choir class were pretty excited when they found out they had $2,000 to order tuxedos and floor-length dresses for their performances.

"It's nice to know that Sisters holds the arts in high regard and we're able to be professional-looking when we perform," freshman Alena Nore said recently during a 7 a.m. class.

The money is part of a $5,000 anonymous donation that came to the Sisters Schools Foundation specifically for the high school choir and band, said choir teacher Rick Johnson. The other $3,000 was awarded to the band program to begin a fund for eventually purchasing two more timpani, making a complete set.

Jazz choir students hope to raise more funds for a spring performing trip to Seattle. Choir members are selling holiday "singing telegrams" through December 18 for $10 a song. Locals interested in purchasing a Christmas song to send to people within a 10-minute drive of Sisters can contact a choir student before or after school or Johnson at [email protected] The singers will have a selection of three to four songs for people to choose from. Students will deliver the telegrams during a singing field trip Thursday, December 20.

"We'll be filling hearts with Christmas joy," said freshman Megan Calarco.

Johnson said the dresses and tuxedos will serve future jazz choirs for years to come. The outfits will be kept in the "costume closet" at the high school and used by the choir each year. If the jazz choir enrollment grows or if proper sizes are unavailable, student officers will use program funds to order a new dress or tuxedo.

The award-winning choir is made up of 18 students, freshmen through seniors, who passed an audition to join. The group has toured Oregon, recorded a soundtrack for a national commercial and sung on stage with professional musicians during Starry Nights events. Students are being measured for their new outfits and hope to have them in time for the Seattle trip, Johnson said.

Band director Lia Morgan said she was thrilled when she read her email about the donation from the Sisters Schools Foundation and is thankful to be in a school district "that pays attention to our needs."

Typically a band has four timpani since most music is written for four, but the high school has had only two. This year, freshman percussionist Cammi Benson auditioned for the all-state band, but because the high school had only the two timpani, Morgan had to arrange for Benson to prepare her audition tape at Central Oregon Community College.

Morgan said the band still needs to raise several more thousand dollars to be able to purchase the additional two timpani, but this money will put the band much closer to its goal.