Iowa City West choirs hosted the Fall Choral Concert, their first concert of the year, at Arganbright Auditorium Oct. 13. Singers were directed by Choir Directors David Haas and Luigi Enriquez, as well as Brie Bevans, a student teacher from the University of Iowa who has been working with singers at West for eight weeks. Pianist Leslie Hyland accompanied the singers.
The performance opened with Bass Choir conducted by Bevans singing “Ghost Riders In The Sky” by Stan Jones, featuring a solo by Otis Miller ’29. Bass then combined with Treble Choir to sing “I Will Tread Lightly” by Dina Soraya Gregory and Alisa Bair. The song included vocal solos by Nelly Neumiller ’28, Ana Nodia ’29, Mar Nourski ’29, Im Olszewski ’29, Claire Reimer ’29, Ella Stone ’29 and Evelyn Xu ’29. They were accompanied by instrumental solos by Abby Lee ’27 on violin, Im Olszewski ’29 on double bass and Derick Doresca ’26 and Miles Richardson ’27 on percussion.
The two combined choirs finished with “I Sing Because I’m Happy” by Civilla D. Martin and Charles H. Gabriel, arranged by Rollo Dilworth. Afterward, Treble Choir sang “Juntos” by Jim Papoulis, sung in Spanish and conducted by choir teaching assistant Eva Ortega Lopez ’26.
Next on the risers was Concert Choir, who opened with “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Bob Dylan, arranged by Adam Podd and featuring a solo sung by Carter Wagner ’28. “Il Carnevale Di Venezia,” an Italian song by Gioachino Rossini, followed, featuring dynamic choreography, motions of dialogue, and singers merging and splitting apart. Finally, West Singers took the stage to sing “Insanae Et Vanae Curae” by Franz Joseph Haydn and “Nunc Dimittis” by Gustav Holst, which spotlighted soloists Eva Ortega Lopez ’26 and Gabriel Conrad ’26. Then, Enriquez and Haas recognized Bevans’ student teaching journey at West before the full program combined to close the concert with West’s alma mater, “Hymn To The Green And The Gold.”
As the school year progresses, the choirs have been building patterns and adjusting to the return. “It’s always a great energy when everybody’s new, everybody’s enjoying the beginnings of the year. It’s really fun,” Enriquez said. “The fall is a great introductory time, it’s not as [deep] into the academic year as much, and there’s good energy to start the year.”
Despite excitement for the future, preparation for the concert was intense. Amidst the students’ return, choirs trained in choreography and singing in different languages. “A lot of singers are not used to using their bodies [in choir,] normally they just think of standing and singing,” said Enriquez. “But I think that singing and movement are very congruent. One of my college professors would always say, all music must dance.”
Additionally, throughout the concert, different groups combined to sing together. “One of the fun parts about singing in choir is contributing your own voice to something a lot bigger than yourself. There’s a real feeling of unity,” Haas said. Enriquez added, “[Choirs] normally would just sing in [their own] ranges. But when we mix them, the range expands and they get to hear different harmonies.”
The collective West choirs sang “Hymn To The Green And The Gold” to finish the concert. Enriquez said, “We sing it every single fall and every spring. So as we enter the year, we welcome the freshman class. And at the end, in the spring, it’s the last song the seniors sing.” Haas, who wrote and arranged the song, added, “There are people that remember their first time singing the alma mater as a freshman in the fall concert, and then look back on their experience as a senior singing it in the spring concert.”
The transition from being a wide-eyed freshman to an experienced senior is grand, especially for leadership. However, as the years go by and the choirs receive more members qualified in their areas and talented in their music, the lines between the grades nearly blur until graduation, when they’re then they’re left with a brand new team to train, befriend and work with.
“There are always seniors that underclassmen look up to,” Enriquez said. “Every new year, the juniors always ask, ‘What are we gonna do now?’ and they forget that they become the new seniors, like, ‘Oh, you get to step up now, and be the leaders of our programs.’ There’s a natural progression of being grateful for your time here in the program.”
West Choirs will send 22 singers to audition Oct. 25 to sing in the All-State Chorus at the Iowa High School Music Association’s All-State Music Festival, taking place in Ames from Nov. 20-22. West show choirs Good Time Company and Showtime will open their 2025-26 season with the annual Works in Progress show Oct. 27. West’s next curricular choir showcase is Choral Masterworks Dec. 9, where singers will combine with Symphony Orchestra, fusing the school’s spectrum of music to create a greater harmony.
