Providing more than just an opportunity to sing, the Mt. Eden choir program is a community where a range of diverse voices come together in beautiful harmony. Choir offers students opportunities to explore their vocal talents while also building lasting relationships.
Students prepare for performances with immense care, concentration, and dedication, ensuring they’ve mastered each song and given their all to each show.
“In rehearsals, we try to polish one song lots of times,” said Mt. Eden choir director Minami Cohen. “It requires a lot of focus.”
Cohen compares rehearsals to sports practices, even though most would not think they share similarities; in sports and choir, participants practice in drills and must play or perform not just once, but many times.
“We individually prepare for performances by going through our notes and music,” added Mt. Eden sophomore Anjelyn Javier.
As concert dates get closer and members of the choir have to sing their songs multiple times in a row, they ensure they maintain their focus and “stay locked in,” according to Cohen.
Having come to the United States in 2009, Cohen began teaching at a preschool music program and worked her way up to teaching at universities, a job she continues to this day.
With various years and different levels of teaching experience, Cohen sees how committed her students are to the choir, and how important singing is to them compared to others she has worked with.
“I work with different choirs, that’s how I know these students are very committed,” said Cohen.
Choir is not a regular class at Mt. Eden as it is a team of artists, their performances being art they make throughout the course of a school year. Cohen and her students are reflective of things happening in the world or around campus, choosing topics or themes they all enjoy and would like to share with their audiences.
“I love performing, but I mainly love the people in the choir,” said Mt. Eden sophomore Sophia Hoang.
With all the different levels of experience in choir, a focus in their team is finding each person’s quality or strength they bring to the ensemble.
“My passion for singing got me into choir when I was younger because singing makes me happy,” said Javier.
In contrast, Hoang’s journey into choir was less intentional.
“I got into choir in middle school, and even though I yolo’d the class, I ended up really liking it,” said Hoang.
Both choir members illustrate how each singer has their own interests, experiences, and upbringings to the choir, adding levels of diversity that other choir programs find hard to beat.
