The CHS Chamber Singers are off to yet another festival this year – but there is a twist this time around. This year, the Chamber Singers will be heading to the Pacific Basin Festival all the way in Sydney, Australia. Choir Director Joel Wilson and his students are very excited to be able to partake in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is a massive event for the CHS choral department as an international trip of this weight has never been done before. Although the festival itself is not until summer 2018, the choir is already working immensely hard, juggling multiple musical genres at a time in order to ensure that they are ready for their upcoming competition.
According to Dr. Wilson, the opportunity for the Chamber Singers to go to Australia arose around seven years ago, when the choir competed in a festival in Hawaii.
“[The critics] were so impressed with the choir, that they wanted us to take part in the Australian festival the following year. That was financially hard at that time, so it could not be done, but I’ve been in touch with them since that time, and this has been an impending trip,” Wilson said. “We didn’t discover the festival, it discovered us.”
Financial responsibility does still play a large part in the effort to go to Australia. The choir is going to continue the normal fundraising activities of previous years, such as concerts and See’s Candies orders, but they have added a few small factors to help boost the process. The choir was helped by a generous donation from a private donor and now has an extremely active booster group that is presently putting together a business sponsorship program. This is also the first year that the CHS choral department will be selling choir merchandise.
This has been a long time dream for Dr. Wilson, as he has wanted to take a choir to Australia since he first became a choral director.
“There’s a picture of a famous choir standing on the steps of the Sydney Opera House – one of the most iconic symbols in music – and I cannot wait for my own choir to stand there and take the same picture,” Wilson said.
The Chamber Singers have already started working hard towards the festival by sightreading and getting to know their pieces beforehand. Their fall retreat, which is on Nov. 10, will mark the start of their vigorous practice on the three festival pieces they will be performing in Sydney.
“At this very moment, I’m excited and scared. I just don’t know what to expect – we’ve never really had experience with an international festival before” said Dr. Wilson. “My worst fear on any choir trip is leaving someone behind. But in terms of music, this competition has incredibly high stakes. It’s not just high schools competing against each other, these are countries competing against each other. This is such an amazing opportunity – we’re all going to be able to communicate with choirs from around the world, and learn music from each one of them. We’re going to make music with them.”
The hope is that the choir brings home a title that they are proud of, one that shows that they are improving. The goal for each CHS choir at choral festivals is to gain a higher score than the previous year – and all of them have remained true to this very goal.
The Chamber Singers will not just be singing in Sydney; they are going to do plenty of sightseeing as well. They plan to visit the Australian National Zoo and the Blue Mountains.
“I really hope I’ll get to hold a koala bear,” said Dr. Wilson, “If one pees on me, that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to take in order to hold one of them.”
Dr. Wilson and the Chamber Singers are doing everything they can for this festival and will continue to do so, making a name for not just Claremont but this time, the United States.