Photo by Asher Berkner
Article by Asher Berkner
Singing and performing is no small task and requires a great deal of talent, effort, and time, making it all the more impressive that one of Willow’s own students has been selected for the 2023 ACDA National SSAA Honor Choir.
This student is Addielade McMahon, an 11th grader who auditioned and was selected for the choir. She will be giving her performance at the Cincinnati Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, during Mardi Gras and will be practicing before the event for four days with other top-performing musicians. There they will perform a concert program of advanced choral repertoire. The concert will include the audition piece named “Ubi Caritas,” an ancient religious text set to music in the 21st century by a man named Dan Forrest. It is an a cappella song, meaning that there are no musical instruments in the performance.
You might think she has been preparing for something like this for years, but Addie has never done anything like this. “I just saw the opportunity to be able to audition for this choir and I decided, why not? And I gave a good enough performance that I was chosen to be in this performance.” At Willow she has focused mainly on musical theater ensemble work rather than classical music.
Participants must pay to go there, but it’s a big boost for college resumes and, possibly, future music careers. This performance has some of the very best singers in the entire country with people of all backgrounds and from many different states.
“Most high schoolers who are in choir or take some kind of singing class would be thrilled to be selected for the ACDA National SSAA Honor Choir,” said Addie. “It’s a huge accomplishment that shouldn’t be taken very lightly.”
Addie describes singing as a hobby she has done for a while. “I’ve sung for a long time,” she said. “Even back in my other school before Willow, I took music lessons, but I’ve never done something too big with it. It’s just something that I have done for a long time and always enjoyed doing.”
Addie sang two songs to audition for the ACDA National SSAA Honor Choir: a French song titled “Les Berceaux” and “Ubi Caritas,” the song that she will also be performing at the performance. She also had to sing two major scales that demonstrated her tone quality throughout her vocal range.
She also has considered continuing singing in the future after high school. “I would like to continue singing in college if the opportunity was possible,” she said. “I’m kind of nervous about going,” she says, ”but I’m also very happy, and I’m very excited that I was chosen to do this because this is a next step up for me and my music career.”
