TROPIC, Utah (May 16, 2023) — Last night Bryce Valley’s choir program gave their first community concert in a while at Bryce Valley High School.
The 10-member choir — six of them seniors — shared many songs from competitions. They also shared the fun they have “off the wall experimenting with music,” as their choir director, Mr. Nathan Platt, put it.
For Bryce Valley’s choir, the state music competition is always a big event. Choir members work hard all year to perform solos, choir numbers, and mens and womens ensembles. This year many of the choir members were also involved in musical theater competition.
For these competitions, they sang songs like “Polly Wolly Doodle,” “The Oak and the Ash,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed without a Smile,” and “Snap.”
Some of the songs, from classical to theatrical, forced the audience to reflect or contemplate. During the “off the wall” experiments, though, the group felt free to laugh. Two of these numbers, from the senior boys and senior girls, featured ridiculously clever parody arrangements of well-known songs. The boys sang about a “farmer way down in Idaho” to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun,” and the girls sang a senior “Goodbye to Bryce Valley” to the tune of “Walkin’ after Midnight.”
In addition to sharing their ridiculous parodies, Mr. Platt and the choir also invited the audience to participate in that informal experimentation side of music. The audience joined in on a “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”-type round as well as “Susannah’s a Funny Old Man.”
This event allowed the choir to show off their skills to the community in a concert completely unique to Bryce Valley. It was an enjoyable time, and we hope the concerts will continue to be as familiar and fun.
– The Byway
Feature image caption: The choir’s senior girls, Brooke Willis, Angela King, and Anne Overson, sing their song from competition.