Students from the De Soto High School choir, along with choirs from Mill Valley High School and all three district middle schools participated in the first USD 232 Tenor and Bass Choir Festival on Jan 8.

DHS choir director Mindy Fry hopes the program will encourage more boys to join high school music programs.

“The directors are always looking for ways to help retain male singers in our program and this is an idea we’ve toyed with for awhile. We finally decided just to move ahead and make it happen,” Fry said.

The singers worked with clinician Christopher Smith, who directs for the Allegro choir in the Kansas City area. The students only had a few hours to rehearse all of the songs for the concert as a group.

“The clinician was really specific. He helped us fine tune during the fast experience we had learning these songs,” said senior choir member Sam McGuire.

Fry enjoyed the opportunity to work with Smith and other choir directors.

“I love watching other people teach. It’s inspiring and always gives me new ideas for my own classroom. I wish I got to work with other choir directors more often,” Fry said.

The choir performed four numbers including spirituals, ballads and a piece involving mustaches.

Sophomore choir student Jared Forshey enjoyed performing the song “Homeward Bound” most, as it was “upbeat.” McGuire added that the song was “really emotional.”

Both McGuire and Forshey enjoyed combining all five choirs.

“[Singing with the middle school students] wasn’t that hard. Some of us knew each other already, and we met new people as well,” Forshey said.

Fry feels the event was a positive experience for the students.

“Hopefully it built their [the students] confidence as a singer and a leader in the classroom. We also wanted them to see that there are lots of guys that sing and that it can be really fun.”

Fry plans to continue the event in the future.

“We know there are things to change or add as we move forward, but I definitely think we’ll continue with this event,” Fry said.