Before seniors take their finals and head to Southern California for the annual senior trip, the music department plans on staging three final concerts, performing last at graduation, May 24.
Music Director Michael Ogdon says the Celebration Choir and Adoration Ensemble will travel to Trinity Presbyterian Church, May 6. They will be singing at the 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. services.
“The Music Minister Ed Cobb asked me about two months ago to come perform for them. It’s just really important to have a presence in the community because they expect it from public schools and are even more surprised when a private school goes out,” Ogdon said. “You never know what people need and we just want to minister and touch people’s lives.”
The choral music department will also be having a final concert at the G.L. Johnson Chapel, May 8. Because of conflicts from the boys’ baseball team, the performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. Ogdon says that this will serve as a ‘Senior Night’ for the choral department.
“This evening together is really a ‘feel good’ program to bring our choir families together and celebrate a great year of vocal music at school, in festivals, chapels and church services,” Ogdon said. “We will also draw attention to the seniors who have contributed time and talent to the choral program.
Some of Ogdon’s favorite songs that the group has learned this year have included “Air,” which was originally composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Along with this, he also enjoys the song that the Celebration Choir sings, “Blackbird,” written by Paul McCartney
“Adoration is singing a really tough song: ‘Air.’ The piece was originally written for harpsichord by Mozart but was re-arranged for the voices of a group called the Swingle Singers,” Ogdon said. “Choir is eager to sing ‘Blackbird.’ The song was written by Paul McCartney for the Beatles in response to the civil rights movement in the late sixties.”
Despite the stressful weeks to come, Ogdon decided to schedule these performances because he hopes to arrange as many events that include seniors as possible.
“We still have so much that we’d like to share,” Ogdon said. “I want to maximize the time we have left together as much as possible. I think they want to get in as much as they can as well; it’s also more opportunities for people to see it.”
For more information on the music department, email Ogdon.
For more news, read the April 26 article, City of Fresno honors Feather with Proclamation.
