On Thursday, Sept. 26, MHS chorus students piled into a charter bus at 6:30 a.m. and hit the road to Athens. It was the University of Georgia’s choral day, and 27 high schools in Georgia all came together to give an incredible performance. Students arrived around 10 a.m. and filed into Hugh Hodgson Hall, Georgia’s intimate auditorium. After a quick introduction to the space and the conductor, students set right to work practicing their music. All together, high school singers prepared three pieces, “If Music be the Food of Love” by David Dickau for the men, “No Time” arranged by Henry Leck for the women and “The “Promise of Living” by Aaron Copland for both.

After an hour of rehearsal, high school students were able to sit down and enjoy performances from music students at UGA. The concert consisted of  classical pieces sung by both men and women and also pieces from “Carmen,” an opera UGA will put on in November. The students were then free to eat on campus. After lunch they got right back to work rehearsing the pieces. At 3:45 p.m., the concert began. First the UGA Men’s Glee Club performed three pieces and then performed their final piece with the high school men. Next the Women’s Glee Club performed three pieces and their final song with the women of the high school choirs. After, UGA’s African American Choral Ensemble, a group of all races that sings traditional African American spirituals, performed “Hear My Prayer” by Moses Hogan  and “Ride on King Jesus” arranged by Stephen King.

Today, the women of MHS Cantabile will be singing the same song but with a sifferent arrangment. After the African American ensemble, UGA’s Hodgson Singers, which do the most practice, performed four songs. One was a crowd favorite being “Nyon Nyon” by Jake Runestead, which is a modern piece that makes the human voice sound more like instruments and synthesizers. The piece uses leaning, stomping and beat boxing to impress the audience. At the end, the singers got a standing ovation. For the grand finale, all choirs got on stage to perform “The Promise of Living.” With over 550 singers on stage, the sound was massive and filled the small auditorium. McIntosh singers walked away from the experience with more knowledge about the school and about college level.