Lakeview High School’s Choir kicks off the 2023 Homecoming game with a magnificent performance. Thus, this included the singing of The National Anthem as well as our Alma Matter. Many people within the Lakeview community appreciated the inclusion of this event as well as the choir members, who had the opportunity to project their amazing talents to the public. I began by discussing practice leading up to the performance with the new choir teacher, Emily Gerak, as well as fourth-year choir singer, Clover Wagner.

Gerak explains, “The class prepared by rehearsing both the National Anthem and the Alma Matter over about two weeks. During these rehearsal times, each section took turns reviewing their parts and we slowly pieced the entire song together.”

Senior Clover Wagner further detailed how these practices progressed to give the audience their amazing performance.

Wagner states, “As a choir, we prepared for the homecoming game by first rehearsing the songs with the piano until we eventually began practicing the songs acapella.”

After learning the ins and outs to the choir’s practicing process, I spoke with members of the choir to get their take on practice and the performance. Two of these members were Sophomores Aya Cunningham and Mallory Petrick.

Cunningham explains, “I prepared for the homecoming game by singing constantly in the car and at home. I honestly was really nervous about sounding bad, but in the end, I think we were pretty good.”

Choir Member Mallory Petrick is also committed to Lakeview’s Marching band. She explains the performance as well as her difficulty running back and forth for both of her amazing performances during the Homecoming Game.

Petrick states, “I thought it went well although I will definitely say I was a little out of breath after playing and then running and then singing and then running again.”

I found it important to get Gerak’s take after the performance. She explained her thoughts on her new choir’s first performance.

Gerak explains, “I thought everyone did well, especially for their first performance as a newer group this year. Singing in front of an audience is always nerve-wracking and I am very proud of how they did!”

Finally, Wagner gave me input on their final Homecoming performance with new members. Wagner explains their perception of the performance as well as members of the Lakeview community.

Wagner first states, “My thought on how the performance went was I felt really proud of our performance. It was our first public performance as a choir with a new teacher and almost entirely new choir members. Considering the circumstances, I think we did wonderfully. There’s always room for improvement but I think we performed great.”

Wagner explains the difficulty of the first performance with a new teacher and choir members. As expected, Wagner states the possible improvement from the choir but expects that to occur as the year progresses.  

Many members of the community attend the Homecoming Game to support all Lakeview students, watch an exhilarating football game, and see amazing performances such as Lakeview High School’s choir.

Wagner further explains, “I received many compliments from people in the Lakeview community, many people loved the performance. Furthermore, I’m so excited for everything we are going to do this school year and in the future.”

After speaking with Gerak and multiple members of the choir, I understand the tremendous task of preparing for such an extraordinary performance. The preparation took extreme time and commitment from all members. Ultimately, they were able to give everyone a performance better than anticipated. The choir exemplified in their performance and amazed many members in the community as well as Lakeview students and staff members.