The middle school and high school choirs sang at the Music in Our Schools (MIOS) concert on March 30.
In a typical year students from all the schools in the Summit area perform a selection of songs in the gym. However, this year just the middle school and high school choirs participated. As choir teacher Angela Rice said, the decision to not include the elementary schools was made in the fall.
“This year was a little different, this was the first one we’ve had since pre-COVID, so we did not have the elementary sing with us. We had to make that call very early and at that point, we were still wearing masks and were standing three feet apart in the fall,” Rice said.
The MIOS concert has been used in the past not only to showcase the vocal talents across the grades but to also introduce what music is like at the high school level to younger singers. Senior Miranda Devers said MIOS is a great opportunity for younger vocalists to see where they may be in a couple years.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the middle school and elementary school to see what they can be doing in a few years and it also shows what they have been working on – it shows how hard they have been working,” Devers said.
For some students, it’s the first time they’re performing as a high schooler. For sophomore Arun Halder, the concert reminds him of his last MIOS.
“The last [MIOS] I had, I was an 8th grader, so I was at the other end of it where I was watching the high schoolers to see if I really wanted to choir in high school. In my choir alone, [junior] Cal Andrews was my inspiration, when I saw him come up with a solo cause he was in the chamber choir that we’re in now. He inspired me to be where he was at and now where we’re at,” Halder said.
In honor of her time spent in the program, Rice was gifted a bouquet of roses by middle schooler Carson Diffley during the concert. Rice said that the act almost brought her to tears and was very sweet. “It was so sweet and it was sweet to come from Carson Diffley because I have known him since he was in kindergarten. He’s always been ‘I can’t wait to get to you’, and I feel a little bad that I’m not going to be here in Carson’s freshman year, but it was so fitting that that came from him. That caught me off guard. I didn’t know what to do,” Rice said.