“Dang, this place is packed!” I thought

as I walked into the Wheat Ridge High School auditorium. It was packed for good reason — all six different choir groups were performing on this one night. I would estimate the total number of vocal participants to be between 80 and 200, and the auditorium was completely packed by the friends and family of these performers.

The program was extremely good. It spoke volumes about the new choir teacher, Ryan Plakorus. He did a phenomenal job of including and incorporating a very wide range of talent into this one concert. I sat down and tuned in, curious and excited see what was here.

Everything started off with the Voices group, the Women’s Audition Choir, who performed two pieces on their own (including an Israeli folk song). They then sang another song combined with the Women’s Choir, a slightly larger group also composed of all girls. After this combined piece, the Women’s Choir sang a Mexican folksong in Spanish which was very well done.

The next group to perform was the Wheat Ridge Singers, an elite group of performers singled out for their extraordinary vocal talent. This group, composed of seven boys and eight girls, performed five songs, one of which was choreographed and another that included body percussion (clapping, slapping, and snapping). This was probably the most entertaining group, and I would say the most advanced in musical experience and talent.

The harmonious (in all senses of the word) Singers group was followed by the slightly less harmonious (all senses once again) Men’s Choir. While not nearly at the same musical level of talent as the Singers, the Men’s Choir was still thoroughly enjoyable, and they performed one of the best songs: Little Saint Nick. For this Christmas tune, the Men’s Choir came to the very front of the stage, and all but one of them put on Santa hats. The remaining vocalist went so low as to kneel on the ground and wear reindeer antlers. The song, though not musically perfect, was spectacular, and the performance and actions of the singers, while nothing fancy, brought smiles, laughs, and applause from the audience.

The Chamber Chorale followed the hilarious Men’s Choir, performing four superb pieces, one of which was in Latin. After their final song, a striking rendition of Jingle Bells, all of the groups joined together to perform a final piece.

Vicki Duckworth, the pianist who accompanied most of the Choir songs, also had the chance to play some songs solo between some of the different choir groups. One of these included a thrilling interpretation of the Twelve Days of Christmas, full of key changes and slight variations. It was phenomenal.

Perhaps the one thing that was lacking was for someone to acknowledge Plakorus and all his hard work. He took the time to thank anyone and everyone, but his own praises went unsung. But this low note was a minor thing. All in all, I think the Winter Choir Concert can be singled out as an outstanding performance, and, thanks to this concert, I have definitely acquired a taste for vocal music.