A Busy Choir is a Happy Choir

This spring, the Worthington Christian choir members have had the opportunity to showcase their talent in a variety of forms.

On February 13th, the entire choir and a select group of soloist had the unique opportunity to compete at the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA). According to Mrs. Klapheke, this competition is a “good experience for us to sing before judges who are educators in college,” and to “have someone else evaluate what we are doing.”

When competing at the OMEA, the ultimate goal of any performer is to get a Superior rating. Often times, a small school like Worthington Christian has many more obstacles to encounter in pursuit of the Superior rating. For instance, while many public schools have the time to schedule their entire choir to practice regularly, Worthington Christians mixed choir (a choir consisting of both guys and girls) try to stagger their lunches so that they can practice for 25min a couple of times a week.

Despite the obstacles that our choir faces when competing against other schools, our entire choir received a superior rating as well as many of our soloist at this years OMEA competition. A few examples of the soloist who received superior rating are senior Peter Leslie and junior Alli Butterworth.

Although Peter enjoys singing in the Worthington Christian choir, he recognizes that “no program is perfect.” Yet despite this, Peter is happy is to say, “Mrs. Klapheke is a very qualified teacher.” Under Mrs. Klapheke’s instruction, students such as Peter and Alli have received superior rankings at several events.
This spring, the choir has not only been busy competing in the OMEA competition, but they have also volunteered their talents at a variety of venues. These opportunities give the choir a chance to relax and share their love for singing with a diverse group of people.

One of the premier ensembles in the Worthington Christian choir is the “Choral.” The “Choral” consist of a 20-25 select upperclassmen that practice specialized songs together. On February 12, the “Choral” enjoyed singing at the Worthington Village Valentines Party.

Although only the “choral” got to enjoy singing at the Worthington Village Valentines Party, the entire choir had the amazing opportunity to sing at the Ohio Right to Life Rally. At this event, the choir was thrilled when they got to meet former Vice President Candidate, Sarah Palin.

One of the annual highlights for the Worthington Christian choir is when Dr. Raymond Wise comes to visit. Each year, Dr. Wise teaches the choir a few songs and then performs them with the choir at chapel later in the day.

Mrs. Klapheke invites Dr. Wise to come each year so that he can teach the choir the “nuances of how to sing gospel music.” Due to the fact that “Dr. Wise can sing every part” in a choir, he is able to skillfully teach the choir in just a few short hours by demonstrating what the choir is to imitate.

Teaching a choir the size of the Worthington Christian choir is no easy task; and for that Mrs. Klapheke should be commended. Due to her mastery of teaching, the Worthington Christian choir will continue to get better as they perform at many different venues in the coming years.