Sophomore Kayla Aba, Choir student in Holiday Spectacular

What got you into choir?

I’ve sung my whole life. I was doing choir in church, I did choir in elementary school. I kind of took a break during middle school and I did orchestra, but I’ve just always loved singing. My mom’s always been a performer and she loves singing too, so in high school I had to come back.

How does Holiday Spectacular compare to other choir concerts? 

I think it’s so drastically different. There’s so many more shows, and just so many more people who are coming and watching, and so many different numbers. It’s such an amazing time because the creativity with the sets and the outfits and everything is so different.

What makes Holiday Spectacular unique?

I think what makes it unique is just that even though we’re performing the same show five times, it’s just so much fun because when you’re performing, you see new faces all the time. That love of performing keeps every show a little bit different. And I think it just makes it unique because it’s just a massive production.

What are the challenges of putting on this production?

I think it’s definitely challenging when you’re trying to balance school with it and especially right before the end of the year. I’m glad there’s a week, but we’re here after school and then we’re waking up early and I think just maintaining school, doing all my homework and making sure I’m still prepared for each performance is the most challenging. 

How do you balance school and rehearsals? 

I just think I really have to plan, like if I know I’m going to be at school until eight o’clock on this day, I have to really capitalize on SSRT. And I know on Saturday, I’m going to have my day taken up, so maybe I have to wake up early and just manage my time.

What’s the rehearsal process like?

We have a few Saturday rehearsals. We have rehearsals after school where we kind of run the different acts of the shows and run the different numbers. And then we have rehearsals with the orchestra so we can hear (what) their accompaniment is. Then we have full on dress rehearsals with all of our costumes. And then one of our last rehearsals is a matinee that we do for Carmel Elementary School. That’s right near here. So I think the rehearsals are a little bit different each time, but it really prepares you for the final show.

How has participating in Holiday Spectacular influenced your life or your relationships?

I think it’s really helped me build lots of strong bonds and connections with other people and the choir for life, performing with each other for this one week. It’s crazy. We’re all doing our makeup, curling our hair. We just spend so much time with each other in this 400 person choir. So I think it’s really helped (with) building connections and just meeting different people.

What are you excited about?

I’m super excited just to put on the show and get up on stage and do what I love, perform for all these people and show them what our choir is about.

Sophomore Aarthi Eswaran, Choir Student in Holiday Spectacular

How did you get involved with choir?

I’ve been doing theater since I was eight years old. In middle school I actually did band, though I was really drawn to the musical part of musicals, like the singing. I thought it would be cool to try something different. So, I joined choir last year and then we did the auditions and stuff, and now I’m in Accents.

How is Holiday Spectacular different from other choir concerts?

First of all, it’s our biggest concert. I think my choir teacher said that there might be 7,000 people -we might need to fact check that- that watch us overall throughout the whole performance. So it’s a lot more people that watch and it’s a lot more nights of the show. Plus, we have a full tech week before it, whereas in a normal spring concert, fall concert, there’s just one day of tech week and then the next day is the performance.

What’s challenging about putting on this production?

It’s a very long rehearsals. Like, for example, yesterday, I was there from 9 a.m. to almost 4 p.m., like a full school day. So it’s very long rehearsals and it’s also kind of during finals week time. So it’s tough, but it’s very fun.

How do you manage your homework with such long rehearsals?

Well, each choir is not really on at the same time. So while the other choirs are doing their thing, I watch them. I get some entertainment while doing my homework during rehearsal.

What goes on behind the scenes?

There’s so many different choirs at (CHS), which is a great opportunity that we have. But since there’s so many choirs, each one has different pieces that they’re performing to contribute to the show. There are also mass music numbers, which is one of my favorite parts because there’s so many kids in the choir program. So it’s all of them singing together at once for our finale. So we have a lot of group rehearsals and I get to talk to other people from different choirs, which is fun because usually you’re surrounded by just your choir. But during Holiday Spec, it’s like a huge group choir department event.

How have you grown by participating in Holiday Spectacular this year?

I think that I have definitely become much more time efficient, like I don’t waste time anymore and I have to get my stuff done. But I also got to meet so many different people that I would not meet otherwise. And we get to share all these memories and meals and performances together and it’s this big inside joke and we all know what’s happening. I definitely grew up because I learned from so many mentors like people in the choir department that are upper class and I get to really learn from them and become a better performer.

Senior Amber Shen, Oboe player in Holiday Spectacular pit

What inspired you to learn to play oboe?

In sixth grade, everyone was given the opportunity to try out their instrument and I tried out the oboe, just because I thought it had a funny name. And, I tried it, and I actually got a sound on it, unlike the other instruments. Like, I think I tried saxophone and clarinet, and I couldn’t get a sound on it. So I was like, okay, I guess I’ll do oboe. Like, why not?

How has music become a part of your life throughout the years?

Oh, it’s becoming such a huge part of my life- more than I thought it would ever be. Like, I thought I would just do it in middle school, and maybe just do a concert band in high school. But I ended up joining marching band, and then I ended up joining orchestra, and then sometimes I did jazz band or pit orchestra and now this year I’m doing Holiday Spec.

How do you think playing music has impacted your life?

It’s definitely made me think about music more, like, instead of just playing it, whenever I hear music, even when I’m watching a movie and there’s music happening in the background, I’ll be thinking about it. It’s also influenced my social circle a lot. Who I hang out with, who I become friends with, stuff like that.

Why did you join Holiday Spectacular?

I joined it because I’ve heard it’s really fun for my other friends, and I wanted to do it last year, but I was like I’ll just do it. So I’m doing it this year, and I also just thought it would be fun to just be playing easy holiday music stuff.

What has the rehearsal process been like?

There’s been a lot of rehearsal, maybe because we just get such a short amount of time to prepare before the shows begin. So we rehearsed like most SSRTs and maybe like two times after school too. That’s how it has been so far.

How do you manage your time without SSRT?

Honestly, it hasn’t been that bad since usually during SSRT I’m a tutor, so I wouldn’t have that time for homework anyways. But, the after school stuff has been, like, kind of annoying, but also, I’ve been doing marching band. So it’s like, honestly, I’m desensitized.

What do you enjoy about Holidays Spectacular?

I really like how it’s a chill environment. Mr. Barker knows, like, our abilities and he just wants us to basically practice through it each rehearsal, and it’s very laid back. I don’t even play in all the pieces, and the pieces aren’t that hard. So, it’s not like I’m stressed out about it and it’s just like holiday music too. It’s a nice environment.