As the school year comes to an end, many choir and band students are preparing for their first concert of the year. Due to guidelines and regulations put in place because of COVID-19, choir and band have not had the opportunity to host a concert this school year. With some restrictions now being lifted, students are now able to perform live. Seniors Joshua Sol and Lizeth Arenas have both been in band since middle school and are seeing this upcoming choir and band concert as one last stop in their musical career. 

 “It feels so good to be back together making music, and getting to have a concert this year, before I graduate is so good,” Sol said. “I’m extremely excited to be able to perform one last time.”

Although students have not spent a lot of time this year preparing for concerts, they still encountered a variety of obstacles in the classroom. 

“One of our biggest challenges this year was learning how to sing in masks,” junior Macey Wyler said. “The masks also gave us a buffer to get past as it is much harder to phrase and pronunciate words in them, especially while we are singing.”

Both band and choir students are accustomed to working in small groups in order to learn new skills. Due to safety concerns, students this year are unable to work together like before. 

“ We’ve had to be socially distanced in class which causes some problems when we need to work in groups because we can’t interact with each other as we once did,” Arenas said. 

For both band and choir concerts, safety precautions are still a top priority. Seats and tickets must be reserved through their online website in order to ensure social distancing. 

“We also will not be seating the students in the PAC during the concert,” choir director Michael Brown said. “Each choir will be watching the stream of the concert in their waiting rooms, until it is time for their portion of the performance.”

The band concert will take place on Monday, April 26 at the Har-Ber PAC as well as the choir concert on Thursday, April 29. For both band and choir students, this concert will be an opportunity to share with the community their passion for music. 

“These students could have given up with all the adversities thrown at them, but they are excited for an audience and applause,” Brown said. “They were unable to continue to do the thing they love, while others around them were allowed to continue without any changes.”