Each year, MSC holds a choir festival for mennonite high schools all across the country. Hundreds of students gather together for three days of learning and worship, and fellowship to prepare for a concert for the community.
This year, Bethany Concert Choir travelled to Harrisonburg, Virginia. The concert was hosted by EMS and EMU, and we spent time at those two campuses eating, singing, and getting to know other students from the twelve other schools who were participating in this national festival. We were also hosted by members of Zion Mennonite Church. Members from the congregation housed us and provided some transportation, as well as took us to church Sunday morning where we were able to further share our music with the congregation.
This year, the weekend was tiring. We were on a bus for eleven hours, and then spent the next 48 singing in a large room with over 415 students practicing the eight songs our guest conductor, Jay Hartzler, selected specifically for this concert. However, despite how exhausting it was, there was fun mixed in there too. Saturday night we had activities such as karaoke, a bonfire, trivia, and other fun group activities. Sunday night after the concert, myself and some other students went to EMU’s coffee shop Common Grounds and enjoyed some espresso fused milkshakes and fellowship together. So even though there was a lot of singing involved (it’s a choir festival people), the trip had good balance of work and play that made the entire thing enjoyable.
This festival is a unique experience and is one of the many things that makes concert choir so beneficial to music education. It has been the highlight of my two years in concert choir because it is always so amazing to see music students gather together and make music that some had never even heard before that weekend. Our guest conductor leads us well, and we get to interpret beautiful music pieces and learn and grow together as a group. If you’re considering joining concert choir next year, do it! Not only do you get to sing and learn, but you also get to go on fun trips, sing with others, experience different places, and make new friends at MSC Choir Festival.