Teresa Bradley, Nederland. There is a spring tradition with the select choir, the Loquations, of Nederland High School. 

Each year, the Loquations go to FTM studios, in Lakewood, to do a high-quality recording of the pieces that they’ve learned and practiced throughout the year.

I was privileged to be a parent chaperone on this trip, and I wanted to share this amazing experience with the community.

The Loquations is called a select choir because each member must pass an audition to become part of the choir. They are tested on their knowledge of sight reading, chords and scales, and must prepare a solo piece to become part of this choir. 

Throughout the year, they practice the skills needed to blend and harmonize to create one sound that, at least to my ear, is truly beautiful.

Liz Evans is the director of this choir and for the last 24 years she has organized and raised money to create this amazing cumulative event: going to a world-renowned recording studio and creating a CD. 

Having never seen the Loquations prepare pieces, it was beautiful to see them perform in the state-of-the-art sound studio. Each song had different arrangements and the members stood where their voices blended to create wonderful acappella music.

They performed in stocking feet to minimize any extraneous noise. They sang song after song, modifying listening to the end result and re-recording for three solid hours. Every student was focused and working hard the entire time. 

It’s clear that they learned a lot of skills in the past year working with Ms. Evans. Ms. Evans expressed that this field trip gives the kids real-life music experience. The acappella CD that they cut that day is available for sale up at the high school if you are interested!!

(Originally published in the May 9, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)