‘Tis the season for holiday cheer, and for the Severna Park Vocal Ensemble that means spreading joy through song not just in the community but all the way in Orlando, Florida. For the third bi-annual trip, the 25 singing students traveled to Walt Disney World Resorts on Nov. 30 for a four-day visit of full of learning, performing, and fun in the parks. The Vocal Ensemble is one of many choirs across the nation who are invited after an audition process to sing in the Candlelight Processional at the Epcot World Showcase, an annual Christmas show featuring 14 Disney-arranged holiday favorites such as “O Holy Night,” “Silent Night,” and “Away In A Manger.” The students sing alongside one of various celebrity hosts to grace the stage, this specific week featuring Neil Patrick Harris, the Voices of Liberty, a professional choir at Disney World, and a professional orchestra.
“I saw the show twice before. The second time I saw the list of all the schools around the country that participated. Then my colleague at Glen Burnie High School took his choir and said it was wonderful. I thought this would be a different opportunity from the spring competitions,” said Vocal Ensemble director and music teacher at SPHS Kathy Gabriele about why she chose this experience for her choir.
The students began their preparation for the trip last May. After sending in a recording of the choir performing one of the 14 songs, Gabriele received notification that the Vocal Ensemble had been selected to perform. The chorus room at SPHS come fall semester was filled with Christmas melodies and harmonies every other day as the class practiced. “We’ve been going over the songs in class nonstop, as well as practicing on our own,” said senior tenor Jonathan Turner. Rehearsals have been detail oriented and rigorous for every voice part as the students must perform the 14 pieces from memory in the processional. “In rehearsals we have been going over every song in detail to ensure that we have the best blend that we can get and that we use the right tone in each song to really convey the meaning,” said sophomore alto Lauren Carlson.
Gabriele also has a workshop planned in which the students will learn and perform songs from the scores of classic Disney films with an instructor from the Disney World performance staff. “They record our voices and then overlay them onto the original video that was in the movie, and that is a really fun time for all of us,” said junior bass Jake Wernecke. The final product of the workshop is two or three scenes of one of the animated movies with the Vocal Ensemble’s voices singing the score. “Back in 2003 or 2004, I attended a music conference in Tampa. That’s when I first heard about the workshop that we book. I really wanted our students to participate in the workshop,” said Gabriele. The workshop gives the students an inside look at the production of Disney scores. In the past, the choir has come home with videos of their performances of songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame among other Disney classics. This year, the students were able to perform a medley from the Disney movie “Tangled.”
Apart from the work of preparing for the performance and the workshop, the students enjoyed fun-filled four days of exploring the parks of Disney World– Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios and of course the Magic Kingdom. Sophomore alto Abby Kondracki said before the trip that she was most excited to visit Hollywood Studios: “I’ve never been on the Tower of Terror, and I’m so excited for it.” Over the course of the trip, Gabriele built in much free time to enjoy the parks. “I’m excited to have such an amazing time with all of the Vocal Ensemble kids before I graduate,” said senior soprano Kendall Bear.
During the busy fall semester, these students had opportunity to visit the “happiest place on Earth” and bond as a choir while enjoying the holiday season in warmer weather after months of work on the Candlelight Processional setlist. “Disney was a magical experience,” said junior soprano Bianca Radice. “Seeing the audience get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy the music with their families was something I will cherish forever.”
