Fresno Christian Schools

Fresno Christian Concert Choir performs their spiritual piece “Bonse Aba.”

After tirelessly rehearsing for two months, students from Fresno Christian choirs and band wait on the edge of their seats at Disney California Adventure Park’s Hyperion Theater. Concert Choir, Men’s Ensemble and Women’s Ensemble achieve multiple awards from the Annual WorldStrides Heritage Festival, March 12-14. 

For over 55 years, WorldStrides has helped millions of students experience learning through educational travel. The program partners with other corporations, consisting of American Student Travel, Wilder Horizons, Oxbridge Academic Programs and others. The main focus of WorldStrides is to help students find their passions and pursue them through worldwide programs. Some participants travel as far away as Tokyo, Japan.

This is the first year the Concert Choir at Fresno Christian — both men and women together — did not have their own class period to rehearse together. Instead, the committed choir members assembled on Sunday afternoons to practice their songs. The group performed three songs, ranging from upbeat African spirituals to accappella Latin hymns.

Caleb Schreur, ‘27, appreciates the hard work that all performers and the directors achieved.

“I felt well prepared for our performance,” Schreur said. “[Ben Certain] was able to break down the music and get it across to us pretty early in the year. From there, we got to build our skills and improve our performance.”

The Men’s Ensemble performed three songs directed by Ben Certain, producing a rich, encapsulating sound; capturing the audience’s heart from a Gaelic folk song to a beautiful rendition of a modern lyrical piece. The Women’s Ensemble presented four songs directed by Susan Ainley, varying from joyful folk hymns to painting vibrant images through intense melodies. 

For the first time this year, the FC Band and Jazz Band applied to perform at the Heritage Festival. Multiple choir students also participated in playing in the performances.

Xyra Baranda, ‘27, dedicated hours to practicing the bass guitar and the auxiliary and proudly performed every song with passion. The band did not know what to expect and how the process worked. 

“The days leading up to it felt a bit stressful but also felt fun because we had the opportunity to go to LA and see all the other jazz bands and choirs from different places,” Baranda said.

All performances were followed by an adjudication from one of the three panels of judges. During the performance, the judges will score each choir and band out of 100. After scores are locked in, one judge will come down to participate in a workshop with the choir or band, providing comments about fixing techniques or to try new ones. 

Bella Barrett, ‘26, enjoyed her last time being adjudicated with the Women’s Ensemble since she is a senior.

“The adjudicator the [Women’s Ensemble received] was pretty nice and super energetic,” Barrett said. “I like how he was very kind; he was not rude or trying to tear us down. He was very uplifting in the process.”

After performing, the group called it a night, excited for their early wake-up call for Disneyland’s infamous rope drop. The next morning, students eagerly entered the park to explore California Adventure and Disneyland all day. In the evening, the students met back at the Hyperion Theater for the awards ceremony.

The theater was filled from front to back with choirs, orchestras and bands from all over the world. Students were treated to live music by Mickey and Friends narrated by Merlin the Wizard, who always adds his own flair of using the younger generation’s slang and “memes” of the year to his performance.

With hard work, all choirs received a Gold Award, Men’s and Women’s Ensemble placed third in their category and the Concert Choir received first place. The band earned silver in both Concert and Jazz Band. Along with those awards, seniors Barrett and Caleb Tuck received the Maestro Award for their outstanding solos performed with the choir. 

Ainley has directed multiple choirs at Fresno Christian over the past 25 years. For the last several years, her choirs have received multiple prestigious awards in the WorldStrides competitions. Ainley recently announced her retirement, making this her final year taking the choirs to the festival.

“It is so much fun to win all the trophies, and we have done that several times,” Ainley said. “But I do tell my students that performing arts, and choral music in particular, are valuable in and of themselves. Sometimes the work itself is the reward.”

The Fresno Christian Spring Concert will be at 7 p.m. May 14, in the GL Johnson Chapel. 

To read more news, visit Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer sits down with Feather journalists and Feather staff readies for 102nd CSPA conference in New York City.