Nguyễn Thủy Tiên
On Thursday, March 10th of 2022, BISFA’s vocal department held their first choir concert together since COVID-19 hit. To celebrate their big night, I interviewed senior vocalist Gabriel Calderon.
Introduce yourself! What’s your name, grade, and how long have you been at BISFA?
Uh, my name is Gabriel Calderon. I’m a senior, and this is my third year at BISFA!
I heard that this was your first choir concert held together in 2 years. What does this mean to you and the [vocal] department?
Well, this is a very special moment for us. We prepared a lot for it. It’s our first one in two years, so we did the best we could, and yeah. We are excited to continue doing more of them.
In your opinion, how did it go last night?
I think it went pretty well. I mean, there are things that we could’ve worked on more, but um, it went pretty well. I say we did a good job.
How long have you guys been practicing for it?
Um, we practiced probably ever since right after Holiday Spectacular.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, like, right after we finished with those two days [of Holiday Spectacular], we got with, like, the first song.
So, give me a brief overview of what the Pre-Festival Concert is.
Um, so, every year there’s, like, a thing called “Festival,” right? Which multiple schools come to this one building, and like, sings, and they’re, like, tested on, like, sight reading ability. Um, and they get graded on how well they did, and, y’know, the best schools are picked out, and they’re like, ranked from the best to the worst. Usually BISFA does it every year but we didn’t do it this year because of Covid stuff. But, uh, a Pre-Festival Concert is a concert before the festival. And y’know, we just show up -- showcase our songs that we’ll be doing at Festival.
Okay, so, is it like solos? Or like, are you doing it together?
It’s a choir, so it’s together.
Okay! How has Covid impacted your department and yourself as a vocalist?
Um, okay, so, Covid really impacted me because my entire junior year, I didn’t go to [in-person] school a single time. And it made me not be super close with my other choir members. And as with everybody else, we kinda, like, drifted away a bit. Uh, we started feeling less like a family, but y’know, going into Holiday Spectacular, we started picking that up, and as of the Pre-Festival Concert, y’know, we feel more like a family again since Covid is no longer.
What songs were you excited to perform?
Um, okay, so, there are these two things that I really liked. Um, one was called “The Music’s Always There With You.” It sounds really great; it’s like, a nice, peaceful, calm song, and it’s probably, like, one of my favorite songs for choir so far. And the other one is called “Make a Joyful Noise.” Um, I forgot who the composer was, but Mrs. Reynolds -- my choir director -- said it was somebody that was really close to her that passed away not too long ago. And, y’know, it was of high sentimental value to her, so we had to do a good job on it, and it was one of my favorite pieces that we did.
So, were you nervous for the concert?
Um, no, not really. I’ve been in choir for quite awhile, and when I’m doing concerts I’m not super nervous. I’m more nervous when I do recitals, like, solo stuff, but choir stuff is not that bad.
And so after this [Pre-Festival], what’s what’s your next -- like, what’s the next big thing for the vocal department?
Um, right now, we’re gonna start working on the Spring Concert, which is coming up in the spring. Um, we just now… right now, we have All-State Choir. Yeah, All-State Choir is, like, half of our kids are not gonna be in choir. But, uh, once that’s over -- once we get that over with, um, we’ll start working on the Spring Concert right away.
Alright, yay, thank you!
Yeah, thanks for having me!
Photo taken by Jennifer Parmelee, at the Pre-Festival Concert.
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