May 11, 2005
Judges sing praises for youth choir
Northwestern Michigan Children's Concert Choir earns three gold medals at Toronto Maple Leaf Festival of Music
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Set the standard and they will achieve.
Members of the Concert Choir exceeded the expectations of their co-directors, Mark and Barb Puchala, last month when they returned from a music program in Toronto with three gold medals.
The upper choir among five choirs that comprise the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir, the 50-member Concert Choir includes students from around the region in grades 6-9. Competing against high school choirs at the Maple Leaf Festival of Music, these young singers wowed the judges, who bestowed a rare straight gold for their performance on April 16.
"The awards are based on national standards so one is really singing against the standards as determined by the three different judges," said Mark Puchala, a music instructor and the director of the music department at Northwestern Michigan College. "They are only one of four ensembles in all of the festivals presented by Music, Maestro, Please! [the Maple Leaf Festival organizer] to receive the three gold medals this concert year."
Puchala also noted the pride that he and his wife felt at how the students acted during the festival and throughout the four-day trip, which including sightseeing and the show "Mama Mia."
"It's not just that they did well, but they were complimented on their behavior wherever they went," said Puchala, who founded the program with his wife 15 years ago.
Always scouting for opportunities for his students, Puchala also arranged a two-hour lesson with renown choir director Linda Beaupre of Toronto. Puchala had been so impressed with her students after hearing them sing in Chicago at a national convention of choir directors that he called her out of the blue before the Toronto trip.
"She happened to have an open Friday morning on that weekend and we had a wonderful two-hour master class with this teacher," Puchala said. "She loved the choir."
For more than half of the Concert Choir, the Toronto trip was a final hurrah after many years of singing together. The ninth grade students are ineligible for the choir next year, ending a bond that spanned six or seven years.
For these students, some of whom will move on to the choral programs at the two Traverse City high schools, their years with the Children's Choir laid an excellent foundation.
"I really do think I got musical training with NMCC," said Sarah Paquet, a ninth grader at East Junior High who just finished seven years with the program. "It was my first musical experience."
This tight-knit group of ninth graders is already having withdrawal symptoms from choir after years of spending every Thursday evening together during the school year. Not to mention extra rehearsals many Saturdays, numerous concerts every season and other trips to sing in Chicago or Toronto. Some members (and a few parents) shed tears after the Concert Choir final performance together last week, during the Children's Choir Spring Concert.
"It's going to be a big change to not have it there, this has been the thing that I've been devoted to," said Tessa Reed, a ninth grader at West Junior High who has been in the program six years. "We're going to meet once a month next year on Thursdays to have coffee or something."
From a parent's perspective, Sue McClain said that her daughter, Sarah Johnson, made wonderful friends in choir and learned to excel at choral singing thanks to the rigorous training she received over seven years. Her daughter also sings in choir at West Junior High, but McClain credits the Children's Choir for her daughter's development and love of singing
"I can't say enough about the Puchalas and the Parrishes, the directors that Sarah herself had, she loved them all," McClain said. "They're very good at giving positive reinforcement to the kids and in my opinion that is so important."
"They work them hard and when the kids sign up for choir, that is the commitment," she added. "They are absolutely wonderful and she got a lot of training through them."
Students who will be in grades three through nine next fall can join the Northwestern Michigan Children's Choir. Parents of third and fourth grade students can call Dave and Mary Parrish at 946-6615 for more information about the Treble Choir. Individual auditions for older students will be held on Tuesday, May 17, and Wednesday, May 18, from 6-8:30 p.m. at the college. To schedule an audition, contact Extended Educational Services at 995-1700. For more information on the program, contact Puchala at 995-1338 or visit online at www.nmc.edu/childrenschoir