All upper school choirs will perform in the spring vocal concert in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center on May 3.

Bel Canto will sing “Cantate Domino,” “Island Songs” and “Walk, Children, Walk!” Camerata and Acoustics together will perform “Non sono in questa rive” and “Walkin’ On That Heavenly Road.” Separately, Acoustics will sing “Blackbird,” while Camerata will perform “The Nightingale.” Guys’ Gig will sing “Africa” and “Thinkin Bout You.” Cantilena will perform “I Thank You God,” “Famine Song,” “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” “Flare,” “Liebst du um Schonheit” and the song they sing every year, “How Can I Keep From Singing.” Downbeat will perform “Rock This Town,” “Some Nights” and “Take Me Home.” For the finale, all choirs will sing the Harker School Song.                                                                                 

Praveen Batra (12) will be the student director for both Camerata and Acoustics and conduct “Walkin’ On That Heavenly Road,” Dilara Ezer (11) the student director for Acoustics and conduct “Blackbird” and Millie Lin (12) the student director for Cantilena and conduct “Famine Song.” Student directors lead rehearsal warmups and conduct a song for their choir.

“What I really like about conducting is that it’s a little bit like dancing and through these movements, you’re able to change the sound of other people in the entire choir and make something really beautiful,” Millie said.

Evan Bourke (9), a member of both Bel Canto and Guys’ Gig, commented about performing in concerts.

“[Performing on stage] brings other people happiness. That’s part of it, but the energy of the crowd also really feeds into our energy on stage, and so it’s just this giant feedback loop of positivity and fun. It’s just a really great experience,” he said.

Vocal music teacher Susan Nace, the conductor for Cantilena, Guys’ Gig and Camerata, also described the connection between the audience and the performers.

“My favorite part of every concert is the communication and the connecting. It’s the energy, and it’s part of the educational process, too,” she said. “It’s seeing my performers, seeing my students learn how to communicate their song and to connect profoundly with people in their audience because if they do not make that connection, that heart to heart connection, then why are we doing it?”

Other upcoming performing arts events include the annual instrumental Spring Concert, in which middle and upper school orchestras will perform in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. on May 4.