For the members of the Herricks High School Chamber Choir, the CD they record at the end of each year is both the summation of their work together and a reminder of a shared experience.
“It was the last time for us to perform for ourselves and to reminisce about when we’re older,” senior soprano Veronica Mak said.
The year end recording is a practice choir director Louis O’Hanlon has maintained for the past seven years.
“It’s always emotional because it’s the audio yearbook we create. It gives the students a chance to hear and really listen to what we’ve done throughout the year,” O’Hanlon said.
This year, the Chamber Choir achieved a rating of level 6 gold with distinction in the New York State School Music Association assessments, the highest level a choir can reach.
In the process of singing at numerous venues, including Disney World in Orlando, Fla. in March, the students bonded with each other, the students said.
“Many people grew close with people they didn’t really know,” junior baritone Andrew Greiche said.
O’Hanlon challenged her singers with a typically eclectic selections of classical material and modern songs. Most of the 10 pieces on the CD were sung a capella, an approach O’Hanlon favors to hone her singers’ musical sensibilities.
“It’s better for developing the ear,” she said.
This year, the choir’s repertoire included “O Sacrum con Vivium” by Thomas Tallis, “Lacrimosa” from Mozart’s Requiem, Moses Hogan’s “The Battle of Jericho,” Daniel Elder’s “Ballad of the Moon” and the signature piece the choir has performed each year, “May the Road Rise Up to Meet You.”
“I really took them from the Renaissance to a song that was written two years ago,” O’Hanlon said.
Their performances of the pieces reflect the virtuosity O’Hanlon demands of her singers and, in the case of a piece like “Battle of Jericho,” just the right level of energy.
“Although a lot of art is about judging people, we take everyone for who they are,” Greiche said. “We use their strengths and take their weaknesses and improve on them.”
For the 20 seniors who sang in the group this year, comprising most of the members of the choir, the three hours they spent recording the songs in the high school auditorium earlier this month were particularly precious.
“It was much more special because you knew it was the last we’d be singing together as a group,” soprano Sabrina Kalman said.
“We all had the same emotion for it,” soprano Joslyn Thomas said.
O’Hanlon sees the recording experience as a kind of audio snapshot in time. She said she advises her students to wait a few weeks before they listen to the limited edition CD – sold to the singers and some faculty members to cover recording costs. And she said she puts the CDs away and listens to them a few years later.
“It’s about making music in the moment and then it’s done,” O’Hanlon said. “Hopefully we each give the very best of ourselves in the moment.”
