On November 15, dedicated singers from ISSH spent a day at St. Mary’s competing in the annual Vocal Solo and Ensemble Festival. All participating students did extremely well and showed much improvement since last year’s festival.

ISSH brought home seven gold awards: India (12), Kennedy (9), Darya (10), Olga (12), and Sara (8) received golds for solo performance; Darya (10) and Olga (12) received a gold for their duet; and the Vocal Ensemble received a gold for its outstanding performance.

This year the Vocal Ensemble consists of 15 members: Angela (12), Alice (11), Jessica (11), Anjana (11), Darya (10), Erika (11), Haeji (10), India (12), Karen (12), Maya (12), Olga (12), Mizuki (10), Utako (12), Yoko (11) and Sarah (11). Although eight of these members are new to the group, the ensemble clicked together from the very start and produced beautiful music. “I still remember our first practice. I was really impressed with our sound from the single warm-up we did: our voices locked together very well. I was immediately excited,” said Darya (10).

Mrs. Ofstedal, the director of the ISSH Vocal Ensemble, decided to challenge the group from the very start of the year. During the first rehearsal she gave out copies of a Moravian Mountain Song, composed by Otmar Macha. Its title, “Hoj, hura, hoj!” is translated to “O, Mountain, O!” in English. Despite the presence of difficult rhythm and dissonant clashes in the piece, the ensemble learnt the song part by part and was ready to put everything together by the third rehearsal. Tackling the Moravian language also posed a bit of problem. However, each member mastered a part of the piece and then taught the correct pronunciation to the rest of the group. “It was an efficient and exciting process! I understood parts of the language since I’m Russian. Putting together certain words and syllables was like a puzzle for me. This first-hand experience really helped me understand what the piece was about,” remembered Darya (10).

The ensemble had just over two months to polish this piece. “I remember the first time we recorded “Hoj, hura, hoj!” during our rehearsal. I was, honestly, a bit worried. There was still so much we could do with this difficult piece,” said Darya (10). However, the ensemble was determined to give a breath-taking performance at the Solo and Ensemble Festival, so the members worked diligently together, shared ideas and learned from each other. “Singing in a small ensemble is so different from singing in a choir. Every voice matters so much, so we really have to look out for all the details,” explained Alice (11).

During the last few practices, the Vocal Ensemble focused on unifying its tone and on sharing music with the audience as a team. The members made it their goal to create a story out of the song and to convey the excitement that the characters calling out to each other in the piece share. To emphasize the call and response nature of the piece, the members decided to cup their hands in front of their mouths each time they sang “Hoj, hura, hoj!”.

On the Friday before the Festival, the Vocal Ensemble performed “Hoj, hura, hoj!” in front of the entire High School and received heartwarming feedback. “The performance was extremely balanced and seemed very cohesive,” recalled Yasmim (12), who watched the performance. “This was the most unified, synchronized and simply the best performance by the Vocal Ensemble I have seen,” said Haruka (11). “The fact that the ensemble had a lot of members this year created much more dynamic impact and much more variation in the tone. The hand gestures that the ensemble used almost wrapped the audience, like a blanket – it just proved how good of a team the ensemble is,” said Reshma (11).

The Vocal Ensemble received similar feedback from the judges at the Festival on Saturday. “I thought the performance on Saturday was really good, since we all locked in so well together even though it was a difficult song,” said Angela (12). The judges were impressed by the unity of the ensemble’s tone and by how well the members engaged with the music and with each other. “Although our performance was the first thing in the morning. I think we focused and connected with each other well. The gold we got was a result of our hard work!” said Alice (11).

As the members of the Vocal Ensemble prepare for the many concerts ahead of them, they will keep the importance of unity and teamwork in their mind. “I want to continue to work well with the group and to connect with each other well, especially while performing, because I really enjoy it when we’re really clicked together,” said Alice (11).

The Vocal Ensemble is excited to share its music with the rest of the Kanto Plain. “Considering what we achieved just in the first few months, I know we will do some amazing things. I am so excited,” said Darya (10).

Currently, the Vocal Ensemble is working towards the Christmas Carol Concert that is scheduled for Friday, December 5.