Due to a rapidly changing and expanding student body, the performing arts department established and reformed the New Edition choir and the Festival Orchestra this year to meet students’ needs.

Catherine Qing, Festival Orchestra member and sophomore, said, “(The directors) wanted to do something new and Festival Orchestra is just a new concept, and I think they want to try that out and make a new experience.”

According to Nicholas “Nick” Gemelas, New Edition choir member and sophomore, the new choir is a good transition between the more relaxed and the intense show choirs.

The New Edition choir has existed in the past, but the choir was remodeled for this year. In particular, the revamped choir now accepts both males and females instead of only females, as was customary before.

John Burlace, New Edition choir director, said he sees New Edition as a preparatory program exclusively for sophomores to learn about being a part of a show choir.

He said, “Sophomores are at a certain place in their development; we can focus on certain things in their development and growth.” 

However, development is not the only focus of the choir, according to Burlace.

“We are excited (for) the opportunity to give younger students (a chance) to compete,” Burlace said.

The new program also puts a greater focus on competition, as well as other changes, to allow it to fit the evolving needs of students.

Margaret Hite, associate director of orchestras, has a somewhat similar approach and said changes were needed in the orchestra program. She said she wanted students to find the right class for themselves.

“Looking at the needs of the students, we needed a second intermediate advanced program,” Hite said.

The new Festival Orchestra also implemented dramatic changes. Hite said the new class will focus on exposing students to different forms of music.

Qing said, “We are going to be playing jazz music, which is completely different from what we normally play.” 

In addition to jazz, the Festival Orchestra will also play fiddle and rock music.

“The technique is a little bit different; the rhythms are a lot different,” Hite said.

This difference might be hard for students to grasp, but according to Hite, many of the fundamentals remain the same. The new rhythms and technique can often give students some trouble.  As a result, she is focusing on students achieving different sounds.

The New Edition choir will also introduce new concepts.

“(The changes in the choir) change the type of music, it changes the singing, because guys’ and girls’ voices are different, the choreography changes,” Burlace said. “It’s pretty much artistic things that are changing.”

Gemelas already notices the changes in the choir. “It’s a show choir so you do a lot of showy stuff but it’s more than just singing; you’re also adding dance and you do travel a bit,” he said.

The New Edition is putting a larger emphasis on the “show” aspect of the show choir. Burlace said, “They’ll have to learn a lot more choreography and polish their skills a lot more.”

According to Gemelas, the New Edition choir is a 50-50 split between more competitive show choir and relaxed normal choir.

The Festival Orchestra also strives for  balance. “It’s less of a time commitment than the traditional Philharmonic and the Symphony orchestra but it’s still like an intermediate-advanced orchestra,” Qing said.

The orchestra will have numerous performances with one main competition. The group will compete in March at the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) Jazz Contest to showcase its new, alternative repertoire.

The New Edition choir will also compete this year. “We take a trip to New York and I think there’s one competition there. The other competitions will probably be something local like ISSMA,” Gemelas said.

According to Burlace, the New Edition choir will compete in the preparatory division instead of the varsity division where the Accents and Ambassadors compete. He said this is meant to prepare the students for their future in show choir.

Burlace said, “I expect them to have a great time, I expect them to represent this school, I expect them to surprise people on stage.”

The departments would like to see their respective programs grow and take on some new challenges in the future.

Hite said, “I just want to see (the new program) survive and thrive, and keep kids interested in playing their instruments.”