by Andrew Rothfusz

On Saturday, April 25, an Atlantic Music Department tradition will be honored once again with this year’s presentation of Show Choir Blast.  The Atlantic Show Choirs-the varsity level Premiere and the junior varsity level Diversity-will perform their competition sets from the past season as well as a new set of music that has been selected over the past few weeks.

Show Choir Blast is an opportunity for the students involved with the high school choir porgram to take a little more creative freedom with their performances.  Each year, the choirs select a set of songs on their own and then create their own choreography for the music that they chose after it is approved by the choir director.  This year, the theme for Show Choir Blast is throwback, which means the songs picked by the choirs have all been performed by past choirs in Atlantic history.

Premiere’s selections include a mashup of the songs “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Anyway You Want It,” both of which are songs by the classic rock band Journey. These will be performed alongside Stevie Wonder’s 1970 hit “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” and the haunting ballad “Hallelujah” as arranged by former choir director Luke Johnson.  The songs were choreographed this year by sophomore McKenna Denbeste, juniors Aubry Schwarte and Lileigh Brown, and senior Chandler Staley.

Diversity’s selected set consists of “Old Time Rock And Roll” by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band “Bless The Broken Road” as performed by Rascal Flatts, and a medley of songs from the popular Broadway musical “Grease.”  Also, as in previous years, the freshman girls Treble Makers choir has chosen their own songs, including Gloria Estefan’s “Turn the Beat Around,” “Thriller” as performed by Michael Jackson and the soft ballad “For Good” taken from Stephen Schwartz’s Broadway musical “Wicked.” Both Treble Makers’s and Diversity’s sets were choreographed by the whole choir with assistance from choir director Jennifer Gaesser.

The new choreography of the selected set is not the only part of Show Choir Blast that AHS students look forward to.  Also taking place are the highly anticipated senior solos, which are exactly what they sound like.  As Show Choir Blast is the last choir concert seniors get to be a part of in high school, they are given the opportunity to perform a solo piece of their own choosing.  This year, selections include Billy Joel’s classic single “Piano Man” performed by Mark Stinn and Halee Glenn’s performance of “Glitter in the Air” by P!NK. “Colors of the Wind” from the Disney movie “Pocahontas” will be sung by Hannah Nelson, and Ben Parker will sing to the piano version of the Panic! At The Disco song “This Is Gospel.”

The night will end, as always, with a slideshow presentation of pictures taken of the choir over the past year, with a special focus on those members who will be graduating from AHS.  The choirs will remember their victories and their failures, the times they laughed and the times that they cried, and be thankful that they were a part of something that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Doors to the performance open at 7:00 pm in the AHS Auditorium, with the performance beginning at 7:30 pm.