Waukee’s Festival of Peace

On December 6th at 7pm, the Waukee Choirs are joining together and performing a joint concert, called Festival of Peace. This lasts for 1 hour and a half, including a 15-minute intermission. Each choir performs four mass pieces with the other choirs and an additional two songs by themselves. Tickets go on sale Monday, November 25th for $12 each. Mr. Kuntson, the main director of A Capella and the Tenor/Bass choir, stated, “This is a concert I really enjoy putting together. It allows for a lot more creativity and artistry in the planning process.”

The Waukee Choir program has six different choirs. The girl’s choirs like Cantate and Bella Voce have two main voice parts, Soprano and Alto. Soprano is the higher part, which is usually split into two parts, Soprano and Soprano II. Alto is the lower part, which is also split in two, with Alto and Alto II. The boy’s choirs like Bass Clef and Warrior Chor have three voice parts, Tenor, Baritone, and Bass. Tenors are the highest part, like Soprano, Baritones are the middle part, which is like Soprano II and Alto, and Basses are the lowest part, like Alto II. Finally, the combined choirs, like Concert Choir and A Capella, have all of these voice parts, but A Capella is an audition choir that has different amounts of each voice part.

The Festival of Peace takes a long time to prepare for, the planning starts in January and is finalized at the beginning of the summer. Students start learning the music in early October, right after the fall concert. Students need to learn how to sing with people they have never been with before, they also need to stay on their parts and not get distracted by the other choir. Most students, who experience two different choirs, have to put in lots of work outside of school to be prepared for all the concerts. Lucy Matlock, a senior in A Capella and Cantate said, “Personally I enjoy being in two choirs because it means I get a lot more variety of music to sing.”

Back in elementary school, students were required to take a music class. This influenced many to continue choir or band throughout high school. Rachel Winfrey, a sophomore in Bella Voce, stated, “I have been doing choir since elementary, I enjoyed it so much, I decided to keep going.” From sixth to sophomore year the choirs have combined 8th and 9th grade choirs but only for one song, so this is something new for the incoming sophomores.

Waukee has done the festival for around 15 years, changing things about it every year that it continues. Mr. Knutson said, “The current setup of Festival of Peace includes several changes implemented in my first year at Waukee High School.” This is a chance for parents and friends to experience a different type of concert than they are used to. This event is a very popular thing, usually selling out the auditorium. So make sure to get your tickets fast if you want to get a good seat. One super special thing is that people spend their time making and putting up decorations around the school. During the intermission, you can go out to the cafeteria and get some dessert or you can stay inside the auditorium and listen to A Capella, who will be caroling. Please take some time out of your day and come support the Waukee Choirs.