The spring concert is on May 20 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. It is the last concert of what has been a fruitful year for the Carmel choir. With three new directors to start the year off, the choir has had to adapt and grow, head director John Burlace said he hopes people who saw the choir in the fall will be able to see the tremendous development his ensemble members have gone through to get to the level they are at today.

Burlace said, “They will for sure see growth physically in just how well they move, how well they dance, how well they communicate with the audience and build that connection. They will also hear a big difference in not just the volume of sound but the quality of sound,” he said, “I think this group has especially improved a lot since the beginning and it is almost impossible not to notice that.”

George Schrader, ensemble member and sophomore said, “The best way to put it, is that this concert is just about having fun on stage, just performing, doing our thing. We are a lot more disciplined, more confident as performers with not as much fear of going on stage. We know what we are doing and will do it to the best of our ability and once that is all finished, just have fun with it,” Schrader said.

As a new director, Burlace said the toughest challenge of stepping into the program was building trust. “Even though our expectations may or may not have been perfectly in line with who we replaced, we still have to earn that individual trust and that is always a challenge because you are proving yourself everyday,” Burlace said.

According to Schrader, “When they came in it was really interesting because I felt at home again and it’s just been an experience because of their personalities and you don’t get that from many teachers, which is really nice to have in a classroom.”

Creating that learning and growing environment was a goal for Burlace, as well as fellow directors Kathrine Kouns and Joseph Foltz, and the product of that environment will be on display come May 20 when the choir takes the stage one last time.