Both AcaPella, varsity show choir, and Bravo, JV show choir, are preparing their shows for this year’s season. The parent preview is on January 13.
The theme for the AcaPella show is Earth. The opening song is “Mother Earth”, which is sung by Braelyn Ensor, by Karliene and Within Temptation. The second song is “Cover the Earth” by Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes and is sung by everyone in AcaPella. The ballad is sung by Meredith Rowe and the transition is sung by a quartet consisting of Emily Carlo, Tatum Carlstone, Maddy White, Emily Buckingham, and Aleigha Ausman. And the Closer of the show is a duet with Kara Chenoweth and Olivia Hood singing.
“My favorite part of show choir so far is combining our singing with our dancing,” said sophomore Lily VanDusseldorp. “It’s such a great time to socialize, but we also continue to practice our show.”
This is VanDusseldorp’s first year on AcaPella. According to VanDusseldop, the community and experiences from show choir have greatly affected her high school life and has helped her get to know older students.
Samantha Robilliard has been the director for AcaPella for two years now. Robilliard’s favorite aspect of show choir is watching the show evolve from nothing to an amazing product. She decided to become the director of show choir because her family was looking for a smaller community to raise their children, and they knew about Pella. It helped when the music department had openings for both Robilliard and her husband.
“We feel fortunate to teach in such a great district and live in such a vibrant community,” said Robilliard.
Robilliard strives to help members of AcaPella find a connection to the music of their show and share that connection with others. She also wants to help students work together and understand that everyone on stage plays a vital role. She is hoping that this year is more predictable than last year, due to the pandemic.
“We would really love to see huge audiences during our performances since last year it was limited,” said Robilliard. “We really look forward to sharing our show with others.”
The Bravo show is called “Let’s Go.” All of the songs convey the concept of “moving forward.” The opener is “Just a Little Faster” which is sung by everyone in Bravo. “Fire Under my Feet” is a soloist song sung by Nora Ausman and the ballad is called “Two Directions” and is sung by Bethany Schreur. “Faith” is sung by Bensen Foster and Skye Rhoten and the last song, “Let’s Go” is sung by Aurelia Zylstra. A quote from one of their songs is “It’s not about what you’ve done; it’s about what you’re doing. It’s all about where you’re going no matter where you’ve been.”
This is Kameron DeMoss’, the Bravo director, first year of show choir here in Pella.
“It has been a great experience working with these students and parents,” said DeMoss. “While there have been some learning curves, I am impressed with how hard the students have been working and improving every week.”
The goal for Bravo this year is that the students strive to be better every time they meet and continue to raise the bar of what is possible. They plan to achieve this goal through teamwork, patience, and staying motivated.
“I always loved choir and show choir when I was in high school and middle school,” said DeMoss. “I wanted to become a teacher to create the same community and culture for my students.”
The goal for Bravo this year is that the students strive to be better every time they meet and continue to raise the bar of what is possible. How the plan to achieve this goal is through teamwork, patience, and staying motivated to dig into enhancing every moment of the show.