Hi Everyone,
I know everyone is very nervous about the upcoming district chorus auditions. So, to lighten the mood, I will tell you about my experience last year. I had just started here freshman year, so I was scared and nervous for what was ahead. When Mrs. Rocchi told me about District Chorus, I realized that it would be a great opportunity to improve my technique. Over time, I got better with less notes from Mrs. Rocchi on each recording. Finally, the big day came. I got prepared, warmed up, my hands were shaking. I walked into the sight reading room and I tried my best. I got a 5, so not bad, but not good. I saw and talked to one of my friends from over 7 years ago, Rhys from Emmaus, and he was nervous too. I then walked into the final room, and I sang it perfectly (in my mind). Everything was sharp and on point; no cutoffs, no sour notes, perfect vowels. I walked out expecting to get in. That's the key in my mind, to have faith in yourself. The next morning I walked in Mrs. Rocchi's door and she just nodded and that was enough. I gave her a hug, took my results sheet, and ran down the hallway and told everyone I knew. Two long months of hard work and dedication paid off. I was so proud. However, that was only the beginning.
Next was preparing for the festival. It definitely had its ups and downs, from practicing in my hotel room in Florida, to not showing up to practice with the song learned, it was an emotional roller coaster. Also, everyone was speculating about what the Regions audition song would be since it is randomly picked out of the 10 you have to learn. I thought it was going to be this beautiful piece of music called "If Music Be the Food of Love", written in the romantic style. Then finally the time came. We all got together in the auditorium lobby 7:30 sharp, then got into people's cars and drove off to Bangor. We all got off and went right into rehearsal. These rehearsals were long, some 3-4 hours, compared to the hour long chorale rehearsal I was used to. Here is my favorite experience from Districts.
We sang one song for districts, "5 Hebrew Love Songs" by Eric Whitacre. One of the songs had a solo, so I thought that no harm could be done auditioning for a solo. Dr. Fryling, the director, who by the way, is amazing, said "Ok. Let's do roll call for the solo... Alysse Goldberg, Michael Silverstein, Josh Dreyfuss, and Dominick Philip." And during this everyone else is chatting with each other IN FLUENT HEBREW. That's right, I am auditioning for a solo with 10 other people who are actually Jewish and speak fluent Hebrew. So I just had to take it on the chin and embarrass myself. They all sang it so beautifully, with inflection and wonder. With my nose in my music, I sang it like I just learned how to read. Everyone kind of stood there and starts laughing which I could only assume was mockery. Dr. Fryling looked at me and said, "Ok Dominick, you can go to lunch now."
I realized on the second day that this is a great opportunity to get yourself out there and show yourself off. So, Friday night, after our first concert, they had an open mic. I went up and sang "Ain't that a Kick in the Head" but halfway through I sang "My mom's here, I have to go!" and booked it out of the school.
Overall, Districts was one of my favorite experiences from last year and I hope I will get in again so I can relive the experience.
