Meramec students perform with the prestigous Voices of Liberty in Florida
By: KATIE LEICHT
Art & Life Editor
In December 2015, Meramec’s Concert Choir, led by Dr. Jerry Myers, was fortunate enough to travel back to Walt Disney World to participate in the well known Candlelight Procession. This performance is held during the Christmas season and is hosted by various celebrity guests. These guests usually tell the story of the birth of Christ or a Christmas Carol and the choir sings in the background. This past December, the choir was able to return to Disney for a second year to be a part of this prestigous concert.
Gloria West, a 15 year former Disney pianist, now works for Meramec in the music department. Before West moved, she had auditioned for Disney over 15 years ago, and was just what they needed because she was hired on the spot. West knew the ins and outs of the business at Disney which was a helpful step in the audition progress for the Concert Choir.
Lauren Carroll, a Meramec student in Concert Choir, has been on this specific trip twice, going two other times prior to the school trip. With this being her second year with the choir, she was very fortunate to be able to travel to Disney once again.
“The first year I was in choir was the first year we were doing the choir trip,” Carroll said.
The year was 2014 when the choir sent their audtion tape to Disney. This tape included actual footage of the choir singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful.’ Carroll was nervous for the audition when it finally came around.
“My problem with the first year was that I was too scared to even listen to the part recordings to practice,” Carroll said.
Carroll, along with her other classmates, had to memorize 14 pieces, two of them being in different languages one french, one german.
The choir heard the good news about their audition being selected, which is exciting news since mainly high schools around the Florida area are selected to be in the Candlelight Procession Carroll said.
I was nervous about not being able to afford the trip but fortunately school helped out a lot with the costs, Carroll said. All choir students were applicable to attend the trip if they could afford it.
“It’s a really good deal if you love Disney and you love singing,” Carroll said. “I love Disney. When I went there for the first time, I fell in love with it.”
As for Carroll’s second time auditioning, she felt more confident than the year before.
“You already have the experience of doing it, so it’s not as scary,” Carroll said.
Meramec’s concert choir is one of the only college choirs that are featured in the Candlelight Procession. The choir prepares by rehearsing a few months prior, and then they pack their bags for Disney. The performance is held at Disney usually up until the week of Christmas. The choir went down to Florida and spent a couple of days bonding and enjoying the different theme parks in downtown Disney before their day in the spotlight. Since the upcoming holiday is Christmas, the park is decorrated in a Christmas fashion.
“When you’re there during christmas, it’s one of the most magical things ever; it’s amazing,” Carroll said.
The choir puts on two seperate performances on one of the last nights they are in Disney.
The students entered stage in gold robes while Daniel Day Kim, the celebrity host, narrates the Candlelight Procession. The students hold candles during their entire performance.
After the performance, the students are full of energy even after a very tiring week of fun. The choir will hopefully be heading back to Disney for the third year this coming December.
