Every year, the choir participates in a festival like many other school music groups do. The group performs for judges, gets a rating, and is able to enjoy other groups as other schools show off their vocal strengths and work to each create music.
The jazz choir, Dexter’s highest level group, received an “excellent” at festival this year, which is the second highest rating a choir can be awarded, according to jazz choir senior Dan Hanrath.
“To get a ‘superior,’ (the highest rating) you have to be perfect. Perfect pitch, perfect sight-reading, perfect everything. So getting an ‘excellent’ is still really good,” Hanrath said.
Hanrath is involved with symphonic band, chamber orchestra, and jazz choir, and he hopes to pursue music in college.
“I want to be a music major, so having three of your classes be music is great. The music teachers are also some of the coolest teachers in the school,” Hanrath said.
Choir teacher Julie Bassett helped the students prepare for festival, and had to work on coordinating the other schools that came to Dexter for the festival this year.
Hanrath said, “(Mrs. Bassett)knows musical phrasing and the knowledge to keep us on the same page and answer questions. She can give us a third person perspective, because it’s hard to hear every detail when you’re in the middle of a group singing.”
The choir students were also expected to help run festival.
“We work backstage, run papers, and help judges,” Hanrath said. “It was cool to help so much.”
