On Wednesday, October 1, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Ayala’s Choir transformed the school’s Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) into a display of melodious tunes and bright voices from all of the choir groups. This show, the October Choir concert, which was meant to be an introduction to the choir program for the 2025 to 2026 school year, was a free performance for anyone who wanted to attend, attempting to make viewers more likely to watch future performances.
As 7 p.m. approached, audience members quieted down and settled into their seats before choir director Mr. Robert Davis introduced the choirs to the audience, encouraging people to donate to the program. This free show allowed people to have an introduction to the program, watch their friends and family members perform, and hopefully make them more inclined to donate.
The newest singers in the program, Mixed Ensemble, started the show with songs such as a mellow version of “Here Comes The Sun” by Matt and Adam Podd and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” with solos from performers Sofia Santy (11), Wesley O’Neill (10), Andrea Bedolla (11), and Evynne Morton Caro (10), showing their potential for future performances.
The vocal Jazz ensemble showed off their vibrant voices that matched with different colored lights to convey the mood of the songs with pieces including “Doomsday” by Rob Dietz with soloists Destiny Garcia (12) and Leah Ines (12), before the Men’s Ensemble performed. The Men’s section sang songs like “Haul Away, Joe” by Zac Stelzer with solos from Brandon Perez (12), Jacob Rojano (11), Westley Wang (9), and Joe Jacobs (12), showcasing a deeper tune before moving into intermission.
“I think it turned out really well, especially because it’s the beginning of the year and we still have a lot of improvement to make. But I think we’re at a really good pace where we are at now, because we’re sounding really good for just being October, ” Women’s Choir member Amanda Lyn (11) said.
As intermission ended, where audience members were able to get up to use the restroom and get snacks, Davis revealed to the audience that Ayala would be building its very own performing arts center where choir students would be able to perform instead of the usual MPR. This then led into the second half of the performance.
In the second half, the Women’s Ensemble sang slower songs such as “Seal Lullaby” by Eric Whitacre and more upbeat songs such as “Womankind” by Katerina Gimon. The vocal ensemble showed their subpar voices through songs such as “Sounding Sea” by Eric William Barnum. Even just the anticipation for this performance made students feel a variety of emotions.
“To be honest, I was panicking. I was stressed out. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s really happening’ because I’ve always wanted to perform,” Women’s Ensemble member Lauren Dalusong (9) said.
To close out the performance, all of the choir groups came together to sing a song called “Sleep” by Eric Whitacre that was meant to be a lullaby for the audience, where they surrounded everyone and had a dark blue light filling parts of the room, creating a moody atmosphere, which was unlike anything done before. The last song was an African song called “Inkosi Namandla” by Michael Barrett to end the show off on a happy note. The end of the performance evoked a lot of emotion for the performers, as this was the last October Concert for seniors.
“It was bittersweet because this is my first and last October concert and I really tried to live in the moment because this is a really special group,” Women’s Ensemble member Nayeli Escobar (12) said.
With the breath taking vocals of all of the choir groups there is no doubt that this choir performance impressed everyone that was watching. Even though this performance is free, it is necessary for donations to be used to help fund the program, to make sure Ayala’s choir program can do more performances in the future.
“In my opinion the choir concert turned out really well. We all did our best and tried to have fun and it was so cool to see all of our efforts come together and put on such an incredible performance,” Escobar said.
