Accents read and vocally rehearse songs at an evening rehearsal. Since the beginning of the year, the choir has learned and rehearsed music to be performed this competition season.

As the second semester begins, the Accents prepare for their upcoming competition season starting in February. This year, according to director of choirs Kathrine Kouns, the competition set is named “Very Superstitious,” for the set will progress from signs of bad luck to good luck.

Accent and senior Alyssa Easton said, “I really like the set this year. I think it’s a fun, unique theme, and we use that to explore a wide range of styles. There are a lot of solos this year, which can also be fun to showcase individuals’ talent. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I’m confident this season will be a success.”

Regarding the work needed to be done, Easton said she is doing her best to be attentive in class and take notes, as well as practice choreography at home using videos taken at rehearsals and sing through the songs a lot. Furthermore, Kouns said the next steps are to clean up the set by touching up the choreography and the vocals, practicing with costumes and the band and polishing it all up.

“I always kind of compare it to baking a cake. As of (this coming) Thursday and Friday, the entire cake will be out of the oven and solid and completely edible,” Kouns said. “But it is just not very pretty. So the three or four weeks following that will be frosting and decorating the cake.”

When setting goals for this year’s competition season, Kouns said she always tells the Accents to not make their goal to bring home first prize but to make every performance better than the last. She said she hopes the girls will feel better coming off of the stage, and if they win first prize, it’s even better.

Easton said, “My goal is to go into competition season feeling as prepared and confident as possible, and to only get better from there. It is easy to say I’d like us to go undefeated again, but that is ultimately up to the judges and the work of the choirs we compete against. We need to focus on our own work, not things that are out of our control.”