On Friday, Jan. 10, the two competing Lincoln Southwest show choirs performed at the assembly in the Lincoln Southwest High School auditorium. The first block assembly was in preparation for the Sioux Falls Jefferson Cavalier Classic competition in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Saturday, Jan. 11. Only Ambience, the junior varsity group, and Resonance, the varsity group, competed.
The Resonance theme is The Grinch. Ambience does not have a set theme, but their show centers around Western and party music.
“I really like watching the other show choirs because I know how hard they work to get there. Show choirs are just really fun to watch because they have all the fancy dresses and the fancy lights,” sophomore Lilly Wirth said. “There is this part in the ballad (In the Resonance show) where they say the same thing, but it happens at different times, kind of like a round. It’s so satisfying for my ears.”
At the Sioux Falls competition, Ambience won the prep division. The band for Resonance, Echo, received the award for the best band. Resonance also won best choreography and best vocals. Senior Tyler Stover, who played the Grinch, won the best male soloist. In addition, junior Jeremiah Keele, who played Max, was recognized as the best performer.
“It’s called a sweep when you get best band, best performance, and best choreo. And (last year) we didn’t get a sweep until like, our third comp,” senior Zach Stevens said. “But this one we got at the first one, so that’s really exciting.”
On a typical competition day, all performers meet at LSW in the morning and ride to the competition. Ambience usually performs in the morning and receives critiques from judges right after their performance. Then, they head to their assigned rooms to change out of their costumes and watch other groups, including Resonance, to support them. Afterwards, if the groups make it to finals, they will stay at the competition and perform one more time.
Emergence, the non-audition group, will only perform at a few competitions, including Southwest Showdown. Southwest Showdown is a show choir competition hosted by LSW and a fundraiser for the music department. It will be on Saturday, Feb. 8, and all three show choirs will perform. There are usually five competitions each season, and there is a final concert as the last performance of the show. The concert will be on Thursday, Feb. 20.
After the final competition at Lincoln Northwest High School on Saturday, Feb. 15, there is a student-led spring show that will be performed at the final choir concert on Thursday, May 8. This weekend, all three groups will perform at Standing Bear High School on Saturday, Jan. 25, but Emergence will be in the festival division and will not compete.
