NFM High Choral concert tells the story
It’s said that every song tells a story. That was literally true as the North Fort Myers High School Choral Department presented its annual spring show Tuesday in the auditorium.
The show was titled “A Knight in the Life of” The title was intentionally left open, leaving people to think whose life was being talked about.
More than 200 students from all the school’s singing departments took part in front of a nearly packed auditorium for the 75-minute program that featured songs that ran the gamut from classical to modern day.
Throughout the evening, Gwen Gregg, choral director, created a linear theme and purpose for the songs performed.
“We are intertwining story and song to make the songs come alive. We have two students telling stories that should make all the songs come alive,” Gregg said.
Before each number, two narrators, Celine Gulbronson and Gary Tripp, seniors who are also members of the choir, came out to give a brief description of an event during their lives, happy, sad or otherwise, that also had meaning to the song that was about to be performed.
Toward the end of the concert, the person whose life was described in song was all of us. These are events that either have happened or will happen in the future to someone.
“It talks about how every song has a story and how it impacts our lives from an emotional level and how it plays into what we say, what we do and how we live,” Gulbronson said. “It’s like I remember this moment or feeling when a song was playing and it’s so universal.”
Among the highlights of the evening was the Les Belles Filles (the girl choir) performance of Hotaru Koi (Ho, Firefly), a Japanese children’s song, which was performed in darkness, except for the blips of light the flashed onstage to replicate fireflies.
Also, on a night of great group performances, seniors Nayda Baez and Carlos Torres ended their choral careers, performing a verse of the Lionel Richie classic love song “Endless Love” before the Cavalieri Rossi group joined in for the rest of the song.
“Me and Nayda sounded real good together and it’s a song I really enjoy singing,” Torres said, who wants to get into 3-D animation in college. “It’s been an awesome four years. I was reduced to a puddle onstage. I’m OK now, but it was bittersweet.”
The event ended with “Old Irish Blessing” where all the choral alumni got together with the current students to sing what has become a traditional ending.
Samuel Rueb, a 2012 graduate, who has a brother and sister in the choir, said it felt great, as he has done it for three straight years.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was very emotional when I was here. There were a lot of breakdowns and wiping of tears, but in the end it was worth it,” Rueb said. “It was the most fun in high school that I ever had.”
Gregg said everything went well.
“It’s probably one of the best. The seniors came through. They were funny about the words, but they did a great job. We have 38 seniors and that’s a lot to say good-bye to,” Gregg said.
Lindsay Lurins said the feeling was mutual.
“It was phenomenal. We had such energy and it was fun to watch. This is bittersweet, especially since I’m not pursuing a music career that I won’t be performing on stage anymore,” Lurins said, who also performed in musicals. “That stage has been my second home.”