Avon Choirs Gear Up for Busy School Year

With Avon schools back in session, the nationally known choir program is set to have another busy year.

“Avon has fantastic support for the performing arts through our administration and the community,” said Leah Trigg, director of choirs. “There are so many different facets of performance, from the musicians behind the risers to the lighting and design. Choir is a very visual project that represents all areas of performing arts in one.”

The official choir season is January through March, but Trigg said the work is year-round. With seven choirs in all, the approximately 250 students involved can choose between concert choirs with a variety of music and competitions, or show choir with dance numbers, costumes and visual effects.

Some students simply do both.

“The show choirs still do our fall and Christmas concert,” Trigg said. “Then they also compete at the state level. Last year, Attraction, our all-female show choir, were state runners up, and Accents, our male and female choir, placed third. We’ve been successful in the past few years and it’s growing in Avon. Eight years ago I don’t think anyone would have thought we’d be placing that high at the state level.”

Drew Stainbrook, associate choir director, has just completed his first year at Avon. With 25 years of teaching under his belt, he saw the impressive program and believed the role to be a great opportunity.

He’s helping to create opportunities for the students too.

“We put students in the group they’ll be most successful, but we’re challenging them to grow from there,” he said. “Some students come in and don’t feel ready for an advanced choir, and through the audition process we can help them embrace that growth.”

Regardless of skill, both Trigg and Stainbrook feel there’s a place for everyone in choir. Many believe it’s a talent you either have or don’t have, but these choir directors disagree.

“Anyone can join our freshman-level choirs like the Oriole or Black and Gold,” Trigg said. “We do hear everyone sing so we know where to place them. Could you show up for the first time and make the show choir? Yes. But if you’d like to be in an advanced choir and you’re not there yet, you can work and achieve that goal.”

The ample opportunity makes a large school small, according to Trigg.

“These kids are best friends,” Trigg said. “It can be intimidating to come to Avon High School, but once you get plugged in, students are able to find their niche.”

The choir department works with other groups throughout the school too, adding some flexibility for those students interested in more than one extracurricular activity.

Many of the choir students are also involved in theater, a parallel to their love of music and performance, but some are in clubs, sports, band and more.

Sometimes the choir one chooses depends on the amount of time a student wants to commit. For example, there are high-level concert choir options such as the Allegros, an all-women’s choir, or Chamber Singers, a men’s and women’s concert choir; these don’t require additional practice time, but if one is interested in more time commitment, the show choirs start rehearsing in the fall for the competitive season. They utilize choreographers, designers and custom musical arrangements, and the students perform a 20-minute show with costume changes, dance and song.

“We start with a couple of times per week in the fall and they meet during a class period too,” Trigg said. “During our competition season, the number of rehearsals increases. We’re hiring choreographers that aren’t local, so it requires a few weekends where we come in and just learn the show. By mid-November we have the show down and now we’re practicing for competition.”

Once the show choir season is over, concert choirs enter the competitive season in April and May, but they’ve been performing all year long.

“Throughout the year we have a fall concert, holiday concert, Madrigal Dinners, spring concert and then competition,” Trigg said. “Events like the Madrigal Dinner involve all choirs.”

A Madrigal Dinner is an evening of entertainment during the holiday season. Students dress up in Renaissance-era costume, perform music and theater, and serve dinner.

Although there is much focus on competitions and results, Trigg said there’s a lot more to the music department than simply earning a trophy. They collaborate with the Avon orchestra program to host an annual concert, and music department staff work to give students as many musical experiences as possible – 25 shows throughout the school year on average.

“It’s a special thing about the choir department,” Stainbrook said. “There really is a place for everybody, and it’s well-rounded and full of opportunities with whatever interest level there is. There’s such a collaborative nature among staff and throughout the entire performing arts department at Avon.”

Choir students perform in the community at local business events, retirement homes and tree-lighting ceremonies. They share their gifts outside of the school walls as often as possible.

The community is supporting them at every turn.

“Our parent support and our choir boosters are critical to the success of the program,” Trigg said. “All of the financial support and hours of volunteering – these are the folks that are helping load trailers and helping get the stage set. We have our principal and superintendent attending competitions and rooting us on. The support is invaluable.”

Whether the teens go on to major in music and sing in college, or they complete their musical ambitions at the high school level, for Trigg and Stainbrook, it’s more about watching the growth and development in their students, often over the course of several years.

The young teens become leaders, volunteering for show choir summer camp, mentoring incoming choir students and learning how to work together to get a job done.

“It’s the biggest blessing,” Trigg said. “We see them throughout their entire high school journey and we reach out to the middle school as well, so sometimes even longer. We get the opportunity to guide students and witness their growth musically and as a person. It’s a special role for us to be a part of that journey.”