Central’s CHS Singers group took a trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in February for a performance at the Minnesota Music Educators Association’s Midwinter Convention.
Music department head and Choir Teacher Sara Cowan said that she received an email from Minnesota for entries to the Nebraska Music Education Association, and she decided to apply.
“I sent two recordings from last year’s group, and in August, I got the call that we were accepted as a feature performing ensemble,” she said.
A big goal for Cowan was to ensure that no student would have to pay for the trip themselves, as everyone in the ensemble was needed. So, grants came in from Omaha Public Schools, the Central High School Foundation, private donors and a lot of fundraising. In December, CHS Singers sold cookie dough, had holiday performances, and sold musical Christmas cards.
The singers performed eight pieces at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The pieces were in a variety of languages, such as Hebrew, Latin, Italian, English and French. They were mostly contemporary, with one piece being from the Renaissance Era.
The two pieces that stuck out to Cowan were from the choir accompanist Stephen Bouma and poetry written by two students, Norah Purcell and Hime Moore. Cowan was impressed by how the singers performed.
“They were just locked in and gave a truly beautiful performance of all their pieces. They amaze me!” Cowan said.
Cowan added that strangers came up to her to express their amazement of the performance.
Senior Chloe Sheehan also felt that the performance went well. They said that there were silly moments, like hearing a band that was nearby practicing, but for the most part, things went smoothly.
When not performing, the singers group went out to the Mall of America, watched “Dial M for Murder” at the Guthrie Theater – one of the top theaters in the Midwest – and visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Cowan and Sheehan both agreed that a memorable moment from the trip was the emergency hatch flying off the ceiling of their charter bus. After pulling over, trying to find the hatch, a truck swiped the bus’s mirror clean off. Cowan said there was screaming, but everyone was perfectly fine.
Besides the emergency hatch, Sheehan enjoyed the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” ride at the Nickelodeon Amusement Park within the Mall of America. They liked the ride because of the number of drops and falls.
“I had to hold onto my glasses for dear life to make sure they didn’t fall off during the ride,” they said.
Cowan enjoyed the trip with the kids. She loves teaching CHS Singers since they’re all in her A Cappella class, and she gets to see them grow every day. They build friendships, develop trust and value one another as a team, which is conveyed through their singing. Cowan said the group gets really busy with performances, but the students never complain and ask to do more.
As a member, Sheehan enjoys the community created within Singers. They said similar things to Cowan about the relationships built within the program and how they work together as a team to better their singing individually and as an ensemble. Sheehan said that though they get giggly at times, the group always manages to be productive and get back to work.
“Choosing to be in CHS Singers is probably the best decision I made in high school,” they said.
