This past weekend, UHS chorus participated in their District Solo and Ensemble event, bringing 25 soloists, a student-conducted piece, an ensemble and walking away with 21 Superior and 6 Excellent rated events.

  The 25 solosists each had to prepare two solos, each in a different language, to perform for the panel of judges. With this came many challenges, as many students had to learn a song in a language they don’t know. “The hardest part of learning German was making sure I got the phonetics right for each word and also getting it to sound pretty, because German is not the prettiest language,” said sophomore Isabella Abalo.

  Senior Damon Koffinas had the task of conducting concert choir to perform for the judges. He picked out a song, taught it to his classmates, and conducted the piece, all with minimal help from chorus directors Mrs. Yelitza Greene and Mr. Jay Dunn. The hard work paid off, as he guided the concert choir to a Superior score. “Conducting my own ensemble was an enlightening experience,” said Koffinas. “When I’m on stage or in the classroom, the pressure is on and everybody looks up to me and expects me to know what I’m doing and I count on them.”

   On top of the student-conducted piece, another ensemble event, featuring concert choir’s basses and tenor, was also able to earn a Superior rating. “It was a great experience for me because learning the music was fun and I can’t wait to do it all again for State Solo and Ensemble,” said junior Yadiel Reyes Colon.