Cartoon by Maddi Rihn

Downtown Disney will be host to music teacher Monica McCormick and her Concert Choir, Chamber Ensemble, and Show Choir students from April 15th-19th.
Concert Choir is a class that takes place in the fall while Show Choir meets in the spring. Both classes are un-auditioned meaning anyone can join. Chamber Ensemble is a club made up of students from show choir and concert choir who only meet after school. Annually, McCormick’s students often compete against other groups from New York City, Williamsburg Virginia, and Gatlinburg Tennessee.
This year, these students will have a special opportunity to be a Disney performer for a day. All of the choirs will work with clinicians and professional performers who will critique and comment on their performances.
Some of the musical numbers being performed are “Sir Duke,” “My Guy- My Girl mashup,” “Dance Evolution” by the Show Choir, “Nothin’ Gonna Stumble My Feet,” “Ubi Caritas,” and “When the Saints Go Marching IN” by the Concert Choir.
The Chamber Ensemble will be performing “Choose Something Like a Star” and “Daemon IRREPIT CALLIDUS.”
McCormick said, “They [students] have been working for months for this trip. It will give everyone a chance to learn more about the entertainment business.”
Besides performing, these students will visit the Animal Kingdom, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT Center), Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.
Every student is thrilled for Disney World as this trip only happens once every four years.
Even though this trip is about the music, McCormick recalls an incident that occurred on a previous trip that had nothing to do with performing and everything to do with how we are perceived in public. A five year old boy was lost in the Park and was unable to find his parents. Urbana students wearing blue shirts saw the boy and reassured him and waited with him until his parents came. His mother was touched at the students’ kindness and asked for a blue shirt with a logo of UHS Choirs for her son to wear. She emphasized to her son that he should follow these students in blue shirts in the Park if he ever got lost again. This incident shines a light on the character of the choir students and on UHS as a whole. Go Hawks!