Students from four choirs will perform at 7 p.m., Monday, April 11 in the auditorium in preparation for UIL choir contest. The choral groups include mixed and single gender choirs from both the varsity and non-varsity programs.

Each choir has prepared three songs to perform before judges April 19-20 at Mary Moody Northen Hall on the West Texas A&M University campus. Head choir director Brandon Farren said performing for an audience before contest will help choirs with preparation.

“It is good to have some pressure,” Farren said. “We want to know what nerves are going to do to our sound and fix any bugs that are going to happen. Weird things always happen the first time you go on stage, and we want to fix them in advance.”

Farren said performing a pre-UIL concert also offers an opportunity for audience members to experience and enjoy choral music.

“The first time people see a choir like chorale or any Canyon choir sing, they are shocked and amazed because they have never heard that kind of intensity,” Farren said. “For many people who are inexperienced with real, fine choral music, it is an eye-opening experience. It makes people realize how much work, passion and effort goes into being successful on stage.”

Students began work on contest music in January, but Farren said preparation for UIL starts at the beginning of the school year.

“All the exercises we do address tonal issues and begin to create the sound I have in my head that I think we are capable of making,” Farren said. “There is a year’s worth of work of vocal technique in preparation for this concert.”

Farren said the concert is so important because the standards are high for every choir and each choir shows the work they have done since September.

“There is no hiding on that stage,” Farren said. “You are what you are by that point. If you have done average work, you will be average, and if you have done great work, you will be great.”