UHS Choir’s 2022-2023 season began with the highly-anticipated concert, “Songs and Stories.” Backed by a live band and middle school choir, the concert featured two hours of pop and rock music as well as intricate choreography and lighting design.

The show presented many modern songs from artists such as Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes, but the roster also maintained diversity with songs from a variety of cultures and eras sung in different languages. 

Although the end product of UHS Choir’s months of planning was an immersive and polished experience, the choir department encountered logistical challenges along the way.

“One [challenge] is that we have a different middle school choir singing with us each night; Rancho on Thursday and South Lake on Friday,” UHS Choir Conductor Robert Blaney said. “It takes time to coordinate the music and find time to rehearse with each choir.”

Because UHS Choir concerts were completely sold out last year, the choir is performing all concerts twice this season instead of only once, with the exception of A Winter Celebration. This made it difficult to manage both of the middle school choirs who would be performing on two different days. 

“Another challenge is that all of our choirs are also working on music for choir festivals and the winter concert, which is all different from the songs we are singing at this concert,”  Mr. Blaney said.

Even with these challenges, all the choirs and extraneous factors culminated in an entertaining, professional show. UHS Choir was able to perform in sync throughout all the songs and choreography despite having a large group. Each song was unique and the shifts in mood and action were seamless and captivating. 

Some standout performances were “Runaway,” “Sorry” and “Still Into You.” The songs were performed faithfully, but each singer still provided their own charm to the piece. The Rancho San Joaquin Middle School Choir also performed well, and none of the students gave off the impression that they were nervous. 

Throughout the entire show, the live band and lighting enhanced the experience and merged well with the solo singers, giving the concert a very professional and polished feel. The finale was a moving production in which all the performers from the evening came together to sing a final song, leaving the audience excited for future shows. 

Songs and Stories was a memorable experience to start the 2022-2023 season, and UHS Choir is sure to continue to deliver in the following concerts.