The Orono fine arts department put on the annual Orono High School fall choir concert this past Monday, Oct. 26.

Nicole Brenna and Shannon McCauley conducted the five various high school choirs throughout their excellent performances. Mark Hemingway accompanied the singers.  The concert was performed at Wayzata Community Church which provided great acoustics, highlighting the younger singers.

The show was open and hosted by senior Kevin Kvern. Kvern provided some humor and general background descriptions on each of the songs performed throughout the night.

Men’s Chorale opened the performance by singing “Come Sail Away”. The song was followed by “Yonder Come Day,” an upbeat song that feature soloist Josh Mehaffey. Men’s chorale finished with “The Battle of King’s Mountain,” a revolutionary era song, which was wonderfully done and featured instrumentalists Madison Michel on flute and Chase Olsen on snare drum.

Next to perform was Women’s Chorale. They sung “Morning Glory” by Sandra Howard, a soft and peaceful song. They then performed a beautiful rendition of “Salangadou,” a song sung in Creole. Ending with “Come Ye Sons of Art,” an upbeat and joyful song that was begun by soloist Halle Lindholm.

“Autumn Gives Her Hand to Winter” was the next song perform by the Treble Choir and was followed by “Canto de Pilon,” an upbeat Venezuelan work song with motions.  Treble Choir finished with “For Good” from the musical theater hit, “Wicked.” “For Good” featured soloists Megan Palmquist and Grace Jacques.

Nexts to take the stage was Concert Choir in their bright choir robes. They started with a hymn-like song “Cantate Domino” by Giuseppe Pitoni. Madison Michel was again featured on the flute during Concert Choir’s performance of “Down by the Sally Gardens.” “Requiem,” Concert Choir’s next song, was a soft yet lovely song about tragedy. “Amavolovolo,” Concert Choir’s final song, was happy and joyous with actions that featured Emma Juusola on hand drums.  

Chamber Choir, Orono’s most prestigious choir, ended the night with the performance of their five songs. Opening with Movement I and VII of “Gloria” written by Antonio Vivaldi. “Gloria” was followed by “Goodnight, Dear Heart” a gentle, sweet and sad song by Dan Forrest. “Indodana,” Chamber Choir’s next song, was a traditional South African song captured perfectly by the choir. Next, they performed “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” from Rodger and Hammerstein’s hit, Oklahoma. T.J. Marxer and Quinn Courteau showcased their skills with solos in this upbeat and lively song. The evening ended with “Walk Together Children,” a spiritual that included swaying.  

All the money collected by ticket sales went towards the Holiday Outreach Program at Orono Schools, a program that aides those in our community that are in need. The program uses the money to purchase gift cards and food items for theses families.

If you missed this performance by the Orono choirs program their next performance will be Monday, January 11th at 7:30 at Wayzata Community Church.