In the Spotlight: North Park Elementary Honor Choir
On February 21st, North Park Elementary Honor Choir had the opportunity to perform in Utah’s annual Arts Day on the Hill event on the steps in the rotunda at the Utah State Capitol building. The choir uses drums, xylophones, and other percussion instruments to accompany their voices. The rhythmic thumping and melodic phrases from the percussion and singers echoed throughout the space, encouraging onlookers from the balconies to sing and clap along.
The North Park Honor Choir, which is only in its second year, closed the series of performances of ensembles that came from a variety of locations throughout Utah. The trip was made possible through a generous donation from Art Works for Kids, a charitable organization established by Beverley Taylor Sorenson that connects the arts with legislative entities, among other things.
The Honor Choir is comprised of 36 5th- and 6th-grade students, who auditioned and were selected for the choir at the beginning of the school year. The choir rehearses weekly before school, with additional practices before a concert. Trina Dayley, the choir's director, uses an Orff Schulwerk approach to instruct and develop the choir. This approach consists of transferring activities and words that are natural to children's play into other, more musical activities. “It’s been especially fun for me to show the students approachable pathways to music that may be new to them," shared Dayley. "There are so many ways to make music. You don't have to be the best singer--you just have to be willing to sing.”
The Honor Choir also gave a special performance at the March 7th CCSD Board Meeting, opening the meeting with a compilation of voices, drums, and xylophones. In upcoming months, the choir can be seen at their spring concert performance, as well as the elementary music festival during the district's annual Arts Celebration event. The Arts Celebration will be held at Ridgeline High School on April 12th of this year and will feature artwork and performances from schools across the district.