“The girls will have a chance to be considered the No. 1 choir in the world,” said director Sarah Baker, who likened the achievement to an athlete heading to the Olympics. “There are people in Germany who admire this choir more than local people, only because they don’t know about it. I still can’t believe this is happening.”
The invitation comes after the choir was observed during two separate performances in Cincinnati by Lori Lobsiger, director of North American Markets for INTERKULTUR. Lobsiger, who successfully nominated the choir to the artistic directors, said the choir and director perform at a high level and they will be the “Cinderella story” at the games.
“When they started to sing I was really bowled over,” Lobsiger said. “The caliber of music they performed, their sound was just beautiful.”
Sisters and senior choir members Claire and Hannah Kelling said the invitation is “like a dream.”
“They were talking about us overseas in front of a panel of European judges,” Claire said in disbelief.
Hannah said the high school choral program is “a diamond in the rough.” She said the members have developed noticeably more mature, complex singing skills under Baker’s direction.
“With all that the community has been going through with the failed levies ... it’s possible to find beauty in hardship,” Hannah said.
The beauty is evident in the middle of the high school, in the middle of the school day, when the women’s select choir members practice singing in the octagon area by the office. Students walking the hallways stop and listen, as the harmonics of the cathedral ceiling amplify and transform the choir’s sound.
Baker, who has been the high school choir director for 10 years, stands in front and provides subtle directions that the singers say help them connect emotionally with the song.
Baker said the World Choir Games invitation is especially noteworthy in light of the district’s financial troubles. Special music and arts programs have already been reduced in the early grades, and the high school chorale program will be at serious risk of being cut if there is no new revenue next year, she said.
“We’re relying completely on donations and fundraisers to be able to do this,” Baker said of the $500 Champion division entry fee, and the $250 fee for each additional category entered.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or rwilson@coxohio.com.
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