Whether it’s singing in the halls at night or performing at assemblies, Resolve, Luminescence and Tonality are sure to bring music to your ears. This year, the A Capella groups plan to focus on growth and collaboration.
“I think the big over-arching thing is growth. Where we start day one is not where were going to be at the end of the year. I think it’s important not just for me to have goals for the ensembles… but for the entire program. We have three incredible groups here with a director [for each group]… I’m a big believer in growth over gold stars,” Director of Choir Justin De La Cruz said.
Each year, the three groups perform at a variety of competitions, working their way up to the final showcase. Junior Landie Colon expressed her desire to grow as a musician in Resolve.
“It’s my first year in Resolve and I’ve been working towards being in it since freshman year. This year I just want to grow musically and create more bonds with people and hopefully make it to finals,” Colon said.
While the three groups rehearse different songs and perform at different events, De La Cruz hopes to add a collaborative element to A Capella. One that focuses on bringing people together for the joy of music.
“We all rehearse on the same day. We’re always here at the same time. It’s simply just us here making music… For this October concert we’re doing a group song with all of the groups, so it allows for us to really collaborate with one another… I think it’s incredibly important to give these students agency to lead because every student is more than capable to move things along and to spear head it,” De La Cruz said.
In addition to growth, De La Cruz hopes that A Capella can have a lasting impact on the community within and outside the groups here at West by showing them what music can do.
“For students in the program, I don’t know if they’re ever going to remember the notes that they sang, but something that I hope they will always carry is what the memories that were attached to them. When we struggled together, when we were upset together, how did we overcome that, how did it feel when everything kind of locked together, how did we feel after our first performances: the laughter, the smiles,” De La Cruz said.
With the goal of bringing people together, De La Cruz hopes to keep growing the membership of the three groups through means of having performances inspiring people to sing.
“We want to build the program. I harped on this one myself: people will come if they see something special. When people go to the concerts, or people see students at different festivals, or see the groups at competitions where they may be, they see that and go ‘wow, I could be doing that’,” De La Cruz.
Resolve member and senior Sarah Van Hees echoed De La Cruz’s sentiments.
“I hope we can establish a growing sense of community in our program and push ourselves to achieve our greatest potential musically,” Van Hees said.
