Berlin Choirs made an appearance at the OMEA district contest at Big Walnut High School and all came home with Superior ratings. 

   On March 10, each choir performed a set of three songs for adjudicators in the auditorium. Every judge records comments and critiques about each song which leads to their rating. The ratings include Superior I, Excellent II, Good III, Fair IV, and Poor V.

   The choirs worked for months to master each and every song for this event. Freshman Rebekah Lape performed in the Olentangy Berlin Treble Chorus and explained the preparation process.

  “We will go through our songs every day and Mr. S would give us tweaks and little critiques that we’ll have to fix,” Lape said.

   The treble chorus sang in the Class C category and performed “La Violette” by Susan Brumfield, “A Red, Red Rose” by Ruth Elaine, and “This is Your Time” by J. Reese. Along with those song choices, they sang a new piece chosen by OMEA that the choir has never seen before. This tests the choir’s ability to sight-read a piece and still maintain a certain level of musicality.

   Junior Sarah Mank remarked that they repeatedly sight-read new pieces and simultaneously perfected the chosen songs. She has been a part of choir for three years and is currently in Berlin’s Symphonic Choir and Advanced Treble Ensemble.

   “We’ve worked very hard correcting small things to gain a mature and elegant sound,” Mank said.

   The Symphonic Choir performed in the Class B category with the songs “How Excellent Thy Name” by Patrick Liebergen, “Omnia Sol” by Z. Randal Stroope, and “I Sing Because I’m Happy” by Rollo Dilworth. Furthermore, Mank describes her favorite part of the preparation process and her passion for music.

   “The process of learning a piece in-depth and performing it as if you’re living it,” Mank said.

   Also, Berlin made history with the Advanced Treble Ensemble’s performance in a double A class and Superior rating. They performed “Muusika” by Pärt Uusberg, “Song of Miriam” by Elaine Hagenberg, and “Sing a New Song” by Sarah K. May.

    Since each choir received a Superior rating, they will head to the OMEA state contest in April with one new song added to their collection.