Piute High School produces many wondrous and spectacular student performances. Some of the community’s favorites are the choir concerts that are produced by teacher Tyrel Ivie. Piute’s choir holds two concerts during the school year, one in the early winter and one during the spring. This year Piute’s winter choir concert was held on December 18 at 6 p.m.
The choir sang seven songs, most having a highlighted singer(s) or special musical parts. This year’s choir had a total of 23 students, 8 boys and 15 girls. Tyrel Ivie gave some background information of what preparing for a choir concert is like. He said,
“Planning a concert varies depending on the choir teacher. That is based on how many students you have and how many you have in each part. A year ago when we did the Yule feast, it was an all-girls choir; this year we had men. So part of the planning process boils down to the amount of kids you have. I kind of have to wait and see who will be in the class. I get some ideas, but I can’t nail down until I know how many students I get.”
Every year the choir size varies. At the beginning of the year, or quarter, Mr. Ivie spends the first week or so seeing where all the new students are at. As students filter in or out of the class things must be rearranged. This leaves him time to decide what songs for the students to perform at the concert without rushing the students. When everyone has their part and gets the gist of the class down, new songs that will be sung at the concert are introduced.
The theme for this year’s concert was spiritual music. Ivie says, “We did do spiritual songs, but weren’t restricted to it. I selected some songs that tied to spiritual music, but also had gospel, broadway, pop and classical mass backgrounds.” Many new rising stars got to showcase their talent at this concert. Maleigha Millett and Angel Houtz did a duet to “Down in the River,” Janey James, Emma Wilde and Emma Davis sang small short solos to the song “Hail Holy Queen,” Kinley Shakespear had a solo in the song “You Say,” Josh Bowels played the djembe drums during the song “Shut De Do,” and Mr. and Mrs. Ivie did a duet to the song “The Prayer.” For the last two songs, there were no solos; however, “Gloria” and the “Prayer of the Children” by Kurt Bestor ended the concert with a bang.
Tyrel Ivie said,
“I am very proud of the program we have built here, but I often tell people my job as a choir teacher in a small school is to be flexible. Not that a lot of people want to stay in small schools because they want to do big things. However, we have some pretty amazing kids that can do amazing things. By choosing songs carefully, we can still dream big while working with what we have to be great. It wouldn’t work if we didn’t have kids who were willing to try, so by combining that with a coach who is willing to work with the kids, we can do the things we do. In the choir program, we try to push the kids out of their comfort zone so we can have fun and do cool things. Students learn with this that this program isn’t just fun, but it’s special.”
The Winter Choir Concert was a good way to end the first half of the semester and bring on Christmas break. With the New Year arising, that leads to a new concert on the horizon: the beloved Piute High School Rock Concert. Ivie couldn’t give away too many details about the spring concert except for the fact that the Cedar City band, the 8EEZ’s would be returning. He also said that the set list contained many classic favorites. The concert is set for April 20.
If you love Piute’s choir, don’t miss their next concert!
– by Ari Hurdsman
Feature image caption: Josh Bowels plays the djembe drum. Courtesy of Rachel Hockett.
Ari Hurdsman – Junction
Ari Hurdsman is a junior journalist at the Byway. She just recently moved to Ephraim, Utah, where she is a freshman at Snow College. She enjoys writing about Piute sports, and she’s really good at it! In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, reading and hanging out with friends and family.