THE HONORS CHORUS

 

Singing is basically one of my favorite things to do. I have been singing ever since I was five. I used to be so shy. I would never let anyone hear my voice. I never went for any singing classes or had any type of training. I just listened to my favorite artists sing from their hearts and I would do the same. It wasn’t always that hard. As the years past by singing in front of my family became a lot easier, but that wasn’t enough because the world hadn’t seen me yet.

So, when I got to sixth grade, I heard that my school had a choir and the best part was, you didn’t have to audition for it. The choir was a fun afters-school activity. We learned songs like jingle bells, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, and a very nice African song. We rehearsed every Thursday until the Christmas concert night. It wasn’t like a big thing but it was still pretty cool. There were snacks and we sang so many songs.

When the school choir was over, my music teacher told me about this big chorus group called THE HONOR’S CHORUS, she said we would rehearse in a different school with a bigger auditorium, and we would have a concert in the thrasher hall auditorium. People pay to see shows there and broad way actors, have starred there. Although there was a catch, you had to audition for it, and the teacher could only pick 10 students from each school in the county. Only 10 students. I knew I had to do my best. After the auditions, my teacher told us that we all had amazing voices but only 10 could be picked. The pressure was on. I was so nervous. What if I didn’t make it.

On Friday the results were out. We all took our seats in the school cafeteria as my teacher read out loud the names of the lucky ten students. Name, after name after name she read and my heart was beating faster and faster. With my throat tightened, fingers crossed and eyes focused on the lips of my teacher, I finally heard the name I had been waiting for… “LAST BUT NOT LEAST….” My heart had skipped a beat when I heard the name “HAMIRA SOPHREY”. I jumped in the air with excitement. It felt like winning the Olympics or getting the golden buzzer on America’s got talent. I was so flabbergasted. I had made it through the very first audition in my life. I was going to be singing with 200 other students that were picked from all over the county. The joy in me was boiling high.

Our first rehearsal was amazing and it was located at the Fleming island elementary school from 6:00pm-8:00pm in between we had snack breaks. There were two types of groups, The ALTO and the SOPRANO S. I was put in the Alto’s group. The sopranos were older and probably in high school or middle school. We rehearsed like ten songs over and over twice a week. Soon enough, it was time for a dress rehearsal which we had at actual thrasher hall. It was magnificent.

We sang for hours, it was all so magical to me. For me to sing on a stage like that, in front of a very, very large audience was going to be a dream come true. For Lunch we had pizza, chips and Italian ice cream. It was the best day ever. On my way to the bathroom, I saw pictures of Broadway stars who had performed at the thrasher Horne hall in the hallway. l could never have been even a little less happy about what I was experiencing.

On the big, big concert day, the parking lots were full and the lines to get into the hall were endless. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The seats were full.  It was showtime. As the curtains lifted and we started singing I knew that I will never forget this moment.  We started singing with our best voices, we sang like angels.  The audience loved it. You could hear the loud cheers from a distance. I had a blast. At the end we got flowers from family and friends. We were awarded plaques and DVDs of our performance.

After that amazing day, I am looking forward to more opportunities like the honors chorus. I have so far posted a video of me singing on flipagram and just two days had over 20 followers and a whole lot of likes. I am also writing my own songs. This is where it all starts. Soon enough, I’ll be having ice cream with Selena Gomez.